


say you won't let go

by livmoores



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Eventual Smut, F/M, Idiots in Love, Mutual Pining, Soft Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:33:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23696242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livmoores/pseuds/livmoores
Summary: Being stuck in quarantine is easier when you're in the company of your best friend. The only problem? You're both hopelessly in love with each other and love is messy.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 80
Kudos: 246





	1. saturday

**Author's Note:**

> it's been a week since i've been in isolation. i tested for the 'rona on friday. came back negative on monday. doc wanted to see me so i could get my paperwork to return to work. i was still symptomatic so i got sent in for another test since it has a 30% false negative. currently waiting said results. i am losing my god damn mind. today is the first day i didn't sleep past ten a.m. and take a nap. if i have corona i will lose my god damn mind. i cannot handle another week of being home and in limbo with moving into my condo. let me MOVE, dammit!!
> 
> on the positive note, my whole "hey lol you're high risk and are showing ALL the signs of it, let's get you tested and out of work!" inspired this. it covers seven days of dimitri's obsessive news watching and highkey paranoia over corona and byleth being the worst when she's sick. it's pure fucking fluff, man. we needed this in our lives. no smut tho, byleth is way too sick for that.
> 
> mature because it's a police au and i do what i want. no beta, i don't own fire emblem, all that good shit.

If his hands weren’t full of groceries, Dimitri would have used his key. Instead he was cursing under his breath, trying to hold the groceries in his hands, and kicking the door to get Byleth’s attention. He knew that she wasn’t asleep, given that she had just texted him, but Dimitri wasn’t sure she would open the door for him.

“Come on, open the door.”

With one final kick, the door opened wide and a smile spread across Dimitri’s face as he stepped in.

“You can’t be in here. I’m in isolation.”

Dimitri raised an eyebrow as he looked down at his friend, noticing how awful she looked. Her hair was unkempt, the bags under her eyes were dark and prominent and she looked like she was struggling to breathe based off how often her chest was rising and falling. She looked worse than she had sounded on the phone, which was alarming. Byleth had sounded awful on the phone. It had scared him enough that the first thing he had done after being dismissed from work was get into his car, pick up groceries he knew she needed, and made his way to her apartment.

“I’ve basically lived here for the past week while I’ve helped you move. If you have the virus, so do I. Captain already ordered it.” As soon as Jeralt had found out his daughter was getting tested, he had called Dimitri into his office and dismissed him for fourteen days. Dimitri put the groceries down and started to put them away. “Won’t get tested unless I’m showing symptoms but the policy is to err on the side of caution.”

A small smile fell on Byleth’s face. She was exhausted; moving from her couch to answer the door had taken a lot out of her. Before she could respond, a coughing fit took over. It had been two days of coughing and it had progressively gotten worse. Byleth gripped the table she struggled to catch her breath. Gripping the table provided her stability and prevented her from falling to the ground. After a few seconds, the coughing fit had passed and the colour returned to her face. 

“How long until the results?” Dimitri asked, his face full of worry. They had gone over countless of mandated sessions for training on the virus but Byleth was the first person he had known to experience it. If she was sick, it appeared to be as awful as the news was saying. That didn’t help his paranoia.

“Five to seven days, presumptive positive, hence the isolation. If it comes back positive, it’s fourteen days and then I can return to work as long as I’ve been symptom free for three days.” Another cough. Byleth gripped the table again; her chest was starting to hurt. “I can’t stand up too long. My head is killing me and it’s hard to breathe. Can you help me to the couch?”

Dimitri would have done anything for her, that had long been established. She was his best friend, his confidant and the love of his life. He was apprehensive about touching her as he had only come to terms with his feelings a month or so ago. It was a lot to process.

“Yeah, of course.”

He wrapped an arm around her and tried not to think about how soft her skin was. The thought quickly left his mind when he noticed how her cheeks were flushed and how warm she was, indicating she was probably running a fever. The worry was evident in his face. He led her to the couch and gently sat her down, sitting next to her.

“Are you sue you’re okay? Do you need me to take you anywhere?”

“Stop that. If you’re going to baby me, I don’t want you here.” There was no malice to her words.

“Nice try,” Dimitri teased. “You’re still unpacking and given your symptoms, I really don’t want you to be alone.” He didn’t want to admit that he obsessively read into the media and the virus scared the living hell out of him. The only high risk that they shared was that they were first responders; they came in contact with the public, and therefor the virus, all the time. They had a low risk of dying. It still didn’t change the fact that it scared him; he didn’t want to see his loved ones in pain.

“Bold of you to assume I wanted to be alone.”

Part of Byleth wanted to be alone. She would lie in her bed, complain in the group chat, and when she started to feel better she would unpack. After fourteen days, assuming she was symptom free, she would venture out into world outside of her apartment. Yet with Dimitri next to her, she knew that she was safe and well cared for. Truthfully, she had wanted him next to her from the moment she had stepped into the doctors office.

It wasn’t that she feared the doctor; she was scared of the situation. When Byleth had been stuck with a needle at work and had to wait three days for her test results, Dimitri had been by her side. When she had been sick with a nasty strain of the flu over a year ago, he had been by her side and held her hair back when she threw up. Every time she had gotten sick, or needed to go to the doctor for any reason, Dimitri hardly left her side and followed her around like a lost puppy.

Byleth loved every minute of it.

Dimitri pressed a kiss to her forehead as she curled into his chest, her eyes heavy. Sothis, she loved him. Maybe it was the exhaustion but she knew that she wasn’t going to let him go after this. It was time to face her feelings and be honest, even if that meant being rejected. No, she wouldn’t think about that right now.

“You would have started breaking down the walls of your place within two days of feeling better.” Before he could continue, Byleth started coughing. He felt her whole body shake as she struggled to breathe. Dimitri frowned as he loosened his grip on her so she could hunch over to open her airway. “Do you need me to get you anything?”

More coughing. Dimitri watched her carefully, noticing the colour that was draining from her face and the beads of sweat that were forming on her forehead. Was this everything they warned him about? If it wasn’t the virus, then what the hell was it? A nasty flu? The uncertainty wasn’t something he enjoyed. It left him feeling anxious and jittery. It was hard having an anxiety disorder in a pandemic ridden world. He watched her carefully as he gently rubbed her back. After a few moments of staggered breathing, Byleth leaned back into his chest and refused to move.

“They gave me an inhaler,” she breathed, finally able to catch her breath. “Next time I start coughing like that, please go get it. I should be okay for a little bit.”

“Are you sure? That sounded terrible.”

Dimitri wrapped an arm around her, noticing how she fit into his chest like the last piece of a puzzle. He bit the inside of his lip and tried not to think about how much he was in love with his best friend.

“Yeah.” Byleth paused as she looked up at him, doing her best to stay awake. She was sure she saw him gulp. “Mind if I fall asleep on your chest? I can’t make it to the bed and you are _really_ comfortable.” So comfortable that Byleth was sure she wanted to fall asleep in his chest for the rest of her life.

Dimitri was captivated by her eyes. _Goddess, you’re cheesy and pathetic_. He could hear the faint whispers of his father in the back of his mind. Pushing Lambert to the side, he did his best to maintain his composure. He brushed the hair out of her face and tried not to frown at how damp it was.

“I’ll put a show on, then. You rest. When you want me to, I can carry you to the bed.” Was that a faint blush over her cheeks or was that the fever? Dimitri grabbed the remote and pulled up Netflix, opting to play a show that captured his interest but Byleth could fall asleep to.

There was a mutter of a half-hearted protest as she closed her eyes. After a few moments of background noise from the television, Dimitri heard Byleth’s soft snores at his chest. Chuckling, he pressed another kiss to her forehead.

“I’m not going anywhere, beloved.”


	2. sunday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> day four: still no results. my t.v. is on my floor as i wait to move. 
> 
> y'all ready for more gross cute shit?? because i am. dimitri is a fucking sap. byleth honestly isn't much better. felix is throwing up at the thought of how much these two love each other. /disgusting/ he says.

The first twenty or so hours had been uneventful.

Byleth slept most of it, curled up into Dimitri’s chest, unwilling to move. Dimitri didn’t mind; he found himself at peace with her loud snores in his ears. Of the few times she woke up it was to cough up a lung and when Dimitri had his way, he was able to get her to eat. It was mainly toast and ramen but it was better than nothing.

It was the first hour she had been fully awake and not nodding off from the television on the couch since he had come to her place. She still looked worse for wear and was coughing up a storm but she was awake. Dimitri didn’t want to admit that he was thankful for it; he had found it hard to sleep when she was sleeping. He worried that she would wake up and be struggling to breathe and she wouldn’t reach her inhaler in time. It seemed like a silly thought, which is why he kept it to himself and stayed awake,

“Have you gotten any sleep?”

They were on the couch, Byleth permanently latched at his side unless she was coughing, in the bathroom o eating. Dimitri had rested his head against hers and had closed his eye for a few moments only to be jolted awake by her speaking.

“A little bit.” He wasn’t lying, per say, it was probably a total of fifteen minutes of sleep. She didn’t ask if it was good sleep.

“And why aren’t you sleeping? Afraid to share a bed with me?” Byleth was teasing but she was curious. She had a two bedroom apartment but only one bed, given the shutdown had happened before she could go furniture shopping. The idea of sharing a bed with Dimitri appealed to her. She had slept better than she had in ages while resting against him.

There was no way she was letting him go after this. Sleeping alone was going to be impossible without him by her side.

Dimitri stiffened at the question. His first reaction was that it would be improper, that they weren’t together so it didn’t seem right to share a bed. He knew that was a scapegoat. The truth was that he was afraid of sharing a bed with her because then he would have to come terms with the fact that he would never be able to sleep alone again. What if she didn’t want him here after this was all over?

After a moment he relaxed and sighed. There was no use hiding it. Byleth would get her answer whether he liked it or not. “You’re going to tease me for my answer.”

“What, are you going to tell me it’s improper? I know you’re not a virgin and I know you’re an atheist, so don’t feed me that.” Byleth pushed the jealously over the thought of Dimitri being intimate with anyone that wasn’t her to the side. This was not the time to be jealous of the one ex-girlfriend he had.

"That’s a very small part of it.”

“What?! It’s not like I sleep naked!”

The thought of Byleth lying in their bed, naked and panting from the sex they just had, crossed Dimitri’s mind. He didn’t need a vivid imagination to know the curves of her body. Outside of the police uniform, she wore tight fitting clothing that Claude and Sylvain constantly commented on. He tried to clear the image from his mind but was finding it almost impossible. Dimitri blushed as he cleared his throat.

“That’s half a percent of the reason. Do you really want to know? It’s super lame.” And it showed how he was _hopelessly_ in love with Byleth.

“No, I’m asking in the hopes that you don’t tell me.” Byleth tried to tease him but was taken over by another coughing fit. They were coming more often now and it caused her chest to her. She leaned over in effort to relieve the pressure. Thankfully it only lasted a minute this time.

Dimitri was rubbing her back while she coughed, which had become a habit. It soothed his anxiety about not being to much and it made Byleth feel safe and protected. It was a win-win. He watched her as she recollected herself and pushed her sweaty hair out of her face.

“If you and I share a bed, I know that I’ll never sleep properly again unless you’re sleeping beside me.”

It sounded cheesier out loud. Dimitri was almost beet red as he avoided her gaze. As far as he was concerned, he might as well have told her he loved her. He was treading in dangerous waters. Byleth could laugh at him or make fun of him. Only negative scenarios were going through his head. The idea of getting a positive response from Byleth was a foreign concept.

“I’m not going to make fun of you for that.”

Her voice was soft as she turned her head to look at him in his eye. His eye-patch was slightly askew and his hair was tied back, which left her breathless. She wasn’t sure if it was from the sickness or the way that Dimitri left her weak in the knees. When had she turned into such a sap?

Byleth was silent for a few more minutes as she continued to catch her breath. It also allowed her to process what Dimitri had just said.

It was exactly what she had been feeling earlier but was struggling to come to terms with. Was it possible that Dimitri felt the same way about her that she felt about him? Their friends had assured her that yes, he felt the same way. It still shook her confidence; she cared too much about their friendship to jeopardize it. Was it worth telling him that that was what she wanted as well?

Yes, yes it was.

“It’s the same for me, Dima. It’s only been a day and I’ve slept better with you next to me better than I have my whole life.”

Dimitri let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. A smile crept onto his face as he leaned in and pressed a kiss on her sweaty forehead. The smile grew on his face as he pulled away and untangled himself from Byleth, who gave a huff in protest. She grabbed the blanket near her and wrapped herself around it, overcome with sudden chills that were a result of her illness.

“Say the world and I’ll carry you to the bed.” He stood up from the couch. “Think you can stay awake for another hour? I’ll make you dinner.” Byleth raised an eyebrow at him. “Or rather, Dedue told me what to make and I can follow instructions _really_ well.” Dimitri was awful at cooking things that didn’t have explicit instructions. It didn’t help that half of the time he couldn’t taste what he was cooking. At least it was starting to come back.

Byleth nodded as she pushed her hair out of her face, grimacing at how sweaty and gross she felt. She needed a shower or a bath or anything in order to get the grim and sweat off her skin. She had only showered yesterday and was shocked at the buildup. It gave her motivation to stay awake for a longer period of time outside of dinner.

“I’ll do you one better. I think I can make it through dinner, take a shower, and make it through a few episodes of Enbarr 99.” Byleth tried to stand up but was overcome by a wave of dizziness and slumped down on the couch. She needed water; sleeping for the better part of a day had left her dehydrated.

Dimitri frowned as he assessed her, hoping she wasn’t pushing herself too hard to stand up. “How about I draw you a bath, I cook dinner, and once you’re feeling clean, we can eat and watch whatever you want?” _Hopeless romantic. Drawing a bath for a girl. What is this, Imperial Year 1185? The year is 2020, Dimitri. Pull yourself together. You’re pathetic._

“Drawing a bath for me? What is this, Imperial Year 1185?”

She was teasing him. Little did she know she was echoing Lambert’s exact words. It startled him for a moment but he recollected himself. The words were much kinder coming from Byleth as opposed to his dead father that haunted his memories. It made it easier for him to ignore Lambert.

“That sounds heavenly though. I appreciate it. I don’t think I could stand up in the shower for too long without falling down.” She was having issues standing up from the couch without breathing heavy, how was she supposed to take a shower. Byleth looked up at Dimitri and gave him a tired smile. “I just have two conditions.”

“Anything.”

Byleth bit her lip, trying to hold back her embarrassment. She was a strong woman who didn’t need the help of anyone and yet, here she was, asking Dimitri for his help for basic needs. It wounded her pride. “One, make it the bathroom in the bedroom so I can grab a chance of clothes after and not bother you for that. Two,” she paused and groaned. This was embarrassing. “Walk with me there. I think I can make it without my chest hurting or coughing but I’m apprehensive.”

“Hey, don’t be embarrassed.” Dimitri held out his hand to hers, which she took. Had her hands always been so warm? “I was going to ask if you wanted me to carry you but that works just as well,” he added on as he helped Byleth off the couch, taking most of her weight.

“I’m letting you carry me to the bed; I am _not_ letting you carry me for a bath. My ego is already wounded.”

Dimitri snorted as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into a hug. “Good thing I’m great at compromising.” They stayed locked in the embrace for a few seconds before Dimitri pulled away after he heard her stomach grumble, his hand still latched into hers. “Come on, the faster I get you there means I can start cooking and you can eat.”

Byleth nodded as she let Dimitri lead the way, into her messy and haphazardly unpacked bedroom, and into the bathroom. There was a comfortable silence between the two of them as Byleth sat down on the edge of the tub as Dimitri started the water.

“Hey Dimitri?” The mint haired woman asked watching the water fill up an inch in the tub. She could feel her love confession bubbling up in her chest.

“Yeah?”

_I love you. I love you so much._

“Never mind.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enbarr 99 = brooklyn 99. i'm not creative.


	3. monday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh my boyfriend is a damn saint for pulling me out of my anxiety over being locked in my house, which is what inspired this chapter. it's heavier than i intended, especially since my goal is pure fuckin fluff for this but at the same time like, it is fluff?? dimitri is so comforting??? ya know.
> 
> trigger warning for generalized anxiety and specifically, the isolation that's come with this pandemic.

It took three days for Byleth to crack.

Almost confessing her love to Dimitri last night got her mind reeling. She wasn’t thinking about her relationship, that was the least of her concerns, but she was thinking about the world around her. Even before she had gotten sick, she had felt like she was suffocating. It was hard to adapt to this new normal, whatever that meant.

Byleth missed going out. She missed the nights at the bar after a long shift, going to the movies, running into the park without the fear of running into anyone who was sick and going to get groceries without a mask. They were all little things that she had taken for granted before. More importantly, she missed her friends. She missed Sylvain’s flirtatious comments, Ashe and Ingrid’s vivid recounting of the books they had red, Annette and Mercedes obsessing over the latest baking show, Felix insisting that he hated everyone and was only there because he was forced, Dedue’s gentle smile and Claude and Hilda’s shenanigans.

The only person she saw with regularity, outside of Dimitri, was Yuri and that was because they worked in the same precinct. It was always welcome to see a familiar and friendly face but it didn’t change the fact that she missed her academy friends, the one she considered herself closest to, dearly. All she could do was FaceTime and briefly catch up if their paths crossed at work, which seemed impossible before social distancing. Ingrid, Dedue and Ashe were in another precinct. Sylvain and Felix were at the first station. Annette was working at home for the district attorney and Mercedes was at the hospital. Whatever chance she had of seeing them while in uniform was practically non-existent before she had gotten sick.

Once Byleth had been forced into isolation, she knew the anxiety and frustration she was already feeling would spill over. She wouldn’t admit to it out loud but it was another reason she had preferred to sleep, outside of the lethargy of trying to breathe. When she was asleep, she didn’t have to worry about the frustrations of the world.

“Chamomile?”

Dmitri's voice brought her out of her thoughts. She looked up and gave him a small smile, taking the cup into her hand. The tea wouldn’t taste like anything but she appreciated the gesture. It was warm against her hands which helped with the cold.

“Thanks,” Byleth replied as she took a sip.

“How long have you been out here? You could have woken me up, you know.”

Dimitri knew that Byleth was on her balcony because she was trying to process something serious. Normally she would have a cigarette dangling from her lips and a glass of whiskey in her hand and would push anyone who tried to talk to her to the side. It was her way of coping. He wished that she had woken him up. He didn’t like to be asleep for too long when she was awake in the event that something happened and it required immediate medical attention.

“About an hour? I think? I’ve lost track of time. And I wasn’t going to wake you up. You already woke up enough due to my coughing.”

Seven times.

Seven times Byleth had woken Dimitri up due to her coughing. Each coughing fit had lasted longer than the previous. Each time she had insisted he go back to bed, he had gotten her inhaler for her, rubbed her back, and held her in his arms until she fell asleep again. As soon as she had woken up the eighth time and felt the familiar tickle in the back of her throat, she grabbed her inhaler and moved to the balcony.

“That doesn’t bother me, Byleth. I’d rather be awake when you’re coughing like that.” It was as close as Dimitri was going to get to admitting how paranoid he was about the virus. The blonde knew that Byleth saw right through him but he would keep up the façade.

“Stop. Just stop, okay?”

Byleth put her tea down, turning to Dimitri. Her head was starting to pound. Was it from the dehydration or the frustration? It didn’t matter.

“ _Stop._ Please. I don’t need you fucking babying me. I can handle this myself. I didn’t ask for you to come over. As much as I appreciate you here, I’m so tired of being reminded that I’m sick and stuck in this god forsaken house for fourteen fucking days assuming I’m positive. And what if I’m negative?! I’m stuck in this house for no fucking reason other than some stupid flu?”

Dimitri was taken aback by her tone but listened to her and kept his distance, despite how much he wanted to wrap her in his arms and hold her close. He had suspected that when the stay at home orders came down, Byleth would start to become frustrated. She was social enough that being forced to stay home left her agitated. She was also feeling helpless because so many policies had changed at work that she felt she wasn’t able to do her job. Dimitri understood that frustration; he felt the same way.

Before she could continue, Byleth began coughing. Dimitri was at her side in an instant, his hand on her back. If she truly wanted him to keep his distance when she was coughing, he would respect that. Right now Dimitri believed her words were fueled by a month of pent up frustration.

Once Byleth stopped coughing with the help of her inhaler, she fell back into Dimitri. She could feel the tears creeping out of the corner of her eyes and the last thing she wanted was to cry. Byleth bit her lip to try and stop the tears but it didn’t work.

“Petra’s got it. She texted me last night. Sylvain and Felix are in isolation because they were exposed last night at work, I know you saw Ingrid’s text in the group chat. And you? You’re here because you want to be but what if I got you sick? What if, Dimitri? I still don’t have my damn results!” The tears were falling freely now.

Dimitri’s heart dropped as he listened to Byleth cry into his chest. He had seen her cry once before and that was when she thought her dad was going to die. It was a sound he never wanted to hear again. And what could he do? Dimitri was familiar with the _what if’s_ of the world. It was what fueled his anxiety, what lead to his father and Glenn screaming at him in the back of his head and what caused him to have so many sleepless nights.

“I already told you; if you have it, I have it. That’s a risk I am willing to take as long as I get to be with you. It is a risk I will take, over and over again, as long as I get to be with you and by your side through it all, no matter what it is.”

Dimitri would have walked through hell if Byleth asked him to.

“I know you’re frustrated. I am too. This is a scary time and it’s a lot to comprehend. Our friends are getting sick, you’re sick and our lives have completely changed. It’s insane to me that the results take five to seven days when it’s a modified version of the flu but then again, I’m not a doctor. There will be a new normal after this and we have to learn to adapt to that.” He was echoing words that Byleth and his therapist had told him before. “I know you hate the fact that you haven’t been able to adjust to this.” He kept running his fingers through her hair as he listened to her sobs quiet down. “You’re strong and resilient. You’re going to get through this and I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

Byleth cried as she listened to Dimitri. He was right, of course he was right, and she had to pull herself together. She had to learn to accept the fact that her anxiety over the world was okay and that what she felt was normal. Everyone was overwhelmed with the world. It was _okay_ to not be okay.

Alternating between sniffling and coughing, Byleth looked up to Dimitri. Her eyes were puffy, red and still glassy, but she wasn’t crying anymore. He was still trying to soothe her by playing with her hair and _Sothis_ , he was looking at her with such admiration and worry that her heart swelled.

“Sorry, I think I got snot over your shirt,” was the first thing she said when she found her voice.

Dimitri snorted as he pulled Byleth into his lap, holding her close and refusing to let her go. Her body was still shaky. Dimitri wasn’t sure if it was from her illness or her crying. Either way, he didn’t like it. Byleth curled into him and rested her head in the crook of his neck.

“It’s alright, I’ve had a lot worse on my clothes.” That earned a chuckle from Byleth; she had responded to the same call that resulted in a drunk and disorderly vomiting all over Dimitri’s uniform and patrol car. “How are you feeling?”

“Emotionally or physically?”

“You look like hell; I know your answer for physically is going to be ‘like shit’ so emotionally.”

Byleth wanted to counter but she knew he wasn’t wrong in his assessment. Crying had taken more out of her than she expected it to. Her head was foggy, her body was heavy and her chest was constricted. Sleep sounded heavenly.

“Better.” _I’m always going to do better when you’re with me._

“Good.” Dimitri kissed her cheek. It was getting harder and harder to resist the urge to kiss her on the lips. “Promise me one thing before I bring you back inside for lunch?”

Byleth was about to protest and suggest lunch out on the balcony but was thrown off by the fact that it was lunchtime. Her days were starting to blur together.

“Wake me up and talk to me the next time you’re feeling anxious, okay? You’ve pulled me off the ledge more times than I can count. It does not, and will not, bother me. I do not care what time it is or what’s going on, okay? I love y- I’m here for you, Byleth. I’m always here for you.” Dimitri took his hands into hers and interlaced their fingers.

“Okay, I can do that.”

Byleth smiled and Dimitri was sure that time had stopped. Goddess, he loved her smile. He loved everything about her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the blue lions started taking bets a few weeks ago after dimitri confided in sylvain (sylvain bullied him into admitting it) that he was in love with byleth about how long it would take for dimitri to slip up and or confess his love and what he's going to do/go about it. it changes constantly
> 
> mercedes/annette: expecting dimitri to provide some big romantic gesture, a date between the two of them, candles included, about two months after coming to terms with his feelings in order to plan the perfect night  
> sylvain: thinks they're gonna fuck and right before dimitri is about to cum is gonna say he loves her (very well aware that dimitri is in love with byleth and byleth is in love with dimitri, because he is a bully, nosey and immediately told EVERYONE)  
> claude: thinks the same thing as sylvain but expects byleth to say it first (bc he knows as well bc he and sylvain gossip. a lot). hilda agrees  
> felix: refuses to participate but already lost. he gave dimitri two weeks. it's been over a month. he has revised his "non bet" to a few days of him being away from byleth after they get out of isolation together.  
> dedue: sometime during the fourteen days they're in isolation together. expects it to come after byleth does something small and to confess  
> ingrid: believes the same thing as dedue but with byleth saying it first  
> ashe: is thoroughly confused and honestly thought they were dating in secret. upon hearing this information, he has gone with "it's probably a combination of what everyone has said" and "two days into isolation." he's lost.
> 
> claude and hilda are my honorary blue lions don't @ me


	4. tuesday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after a very stressful monday, i found out my second test was negative and i went back to work on tuesday. i'm already back on my bullshit of being 100% over this job. been busy with moving so that's what the delay was but i write everything on my phone then write it on word but i've been so exhausted after work (still not 100% better) that i've come home and played zelda. never played that game before so i am obsessed.
> 
> not that it matters but the established pairings in this story are dedue/mercedes and felix/annette. i ship everyone with everyone and the only two that i am 100% consistent on are dimitri/byleth and dedue/mercedes. everyone else??? fair game man. fair game. ship everyone together. i change it up so much that it's irrelevant.

Byleth awoke with a jolt.

It had become common practice the past few weeks, outside of her being sick. There was something in her dreams (or her nightmares, not that she remembered) that caused her to bolt upright and recollect herself. She would survey her surroundings, realize that she was at home and that her cat was curled up at her feet, and calm down.

Expect this time she was having a hard time breathing and Byleth wasn’t sure if it was due to anxiety or illness. She reached out towards her left, grasping for Dimitri. She began wheezing and felt her throat close once she realized that Dimitri wasn’t next to her. The left side of her bed was empty and cold.

Byleth tried to move but her chest constricted her. Her head was pounding and it was hard to focus. She gripped the empty side of the bed as she fumbled around, looking for her inhaler. Where was the damn thing? And more importantly, where was Dimitri?

He had been by her side at almost every waking moment. It had started to become weird even when she was taking a shower, although Byleth was sure that was due to her desire to see Dimitri naked and fucking her up against the title in the shower. It was why she could feel a panic attack seeping in which was only aggravated by the respiratory illness.

The coughing grew hasher, coming from deep in her chest. Byleth moved her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs and attempted to open her airway. It had worked last night but as soon as she found one scenario that worked it would stop abruptly.

“Beloved?”

Hearing Dimitri’s voice was enough to cause the tears to spill over. She was feeling emotionally better than yesterday but still found it easy to cry. Byleth peeled her head away from her knees, noticing that the tightness of her chest was starting to subside. Byleth reached out her hand and felt the coolness of her inhaler.

Wasting no time, she wrapped her lips around the inhaler, sucked in the puff of steroids and held her breath. Within a few seconds, she could feel her heartrate decreasing and the tightness in her chest loosening up. She wasn’t sure if it was from the inhaler or Dimitri but it wasn’t worth deciphering. She took another puff and after exhaling she leaned back into the bed, her body lethargic.

“Sorry, I heard your phone go off and I went to grab it since I know you’re waiting for your test results. I got sidetracked making tea,” Dimitri said as he sat down in the bed and gently pulled Byleth into his lap. He didn’t like how weak she was; it had been too easy to have her comfortably curl into his embrace. “How can I help?”

Byleth took a couple of deep breaths before she looked up at Dimitri. He looked at tired as she felt. He had insisted he had been sleeping but she wasn’t sure if he believed him. The dark circles under his eyes indicated that. And more importantly, he wasn’t wearing his eyepatch, which was something he didn’t do often. It almost made her smile; she knew he didn’t mind taking it off because he was comfortable with her. It spoke legions to the bond they had.

“You said my phone rang?” Byleth asked, her voice hoarse. She didn’t want to talk about the state Dimitri had found her in.

Dimitri fished her phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. Byleth took it, opened the lock screen, and frowned upon seeing who had called. She had saved the number instantly after getting tested. There was a pregnant pause before she locked his gaze.

“It’s the doctor.”

Dimitri didn’t know what to say. The doctor would tell her her results. Either she would go back to work once she had been feeling better and had been symptom free for three days because her test was negative or they would be stuck in the apartment for ten more days, assuming Byleth was well enough to go to work after a positive result. Dimitri thought that the results didn’t matter at this point. She was fighting an illness and needed to rest. If she got the full two weeks, and maybe then some, it would only be for the best. He would be right beside her and provide her with social interaction and come up with plans to help her feel a little less suffocated in her apartment. So instead of speaking, he watched her as she called the doctor back.

Whatever feeling of being tired Dimitri felt was pushed out the window as he studied Byleth. She remained emotionally to an untrained eye but Dimitri knew better. He had learned her quirks long ago. Her lip was starting to tremble which was one of her tells that something was wrong. The blonde didn’t pry. Not only would it be rude but he knew she would tell him once she got off the phone.

After what felt like an eternity but was only a few minutes, Byleth hung up the phone and tossed it to the side like it was poison. What little colour she had drained from her face as she looked at the younger man.

“Positive. Looks like you’re going to get tested now.” The smile Byleth tried to give him didn’t reach her eyes. She tried to tease him but her words fell flat. “Guess I get to be another Fhirdiad cop who got infected. Our numbers are not looking good. Once again, we are beating the fire department. Felix and Sylvain will never let us forget it and remind us why being a firefighter is better.”

Dimitri laughed. “One, if they’re going to boost about that they need to realign their prioritizes. We can just remind them that their numbers aren’t too far behind.” The “cop vs. firefighter” rivalry between the friends was done in jest. “Two, I do not want them to stick that swab up my nose. Did you know that Caspar had a blood vessel popped in his eye because of it? It looks like hell.” He twirled a strand of Byleth’s hair absentmindly.

“It wasn’t that bad. I spent most of my time coughing so violently I forgot how to breathe. I’m under the impression that it’s worse if you aren’t showing any symptoms so you feel it all.”

“How about we just assume I have it and I avoid getting tested?”

“You know that my dad is going to order to you, _especially_ since he has to get tested.” Byleth frowned. She had gotten a text from her dad that assured her he loved her but was less than thrilled with the idea of getting a swab stuck up his nose. He also said that at least if it was one of his guys who had been exposed first, he could boss them around but couldn’t do that so much with his daughter. “They say they’re going to call me back in an hour or so so they can contract trace and determine what needs to happen regarding exposure.”

Dimitri sighed. Byleth was right; Jeralt would order him to get tested and cleared before returning to work now that her test was positive. It wasn’t a chance his captain would take. Captain Jeralt left him apprehensive about a lot of things ( _especially_ the fact that he was head over heels in love with his only daughter) but the safety of his officers wasn’t one of them. He would give him hell for being the first of his officers to get tested, however.

“Guess I have no choice. But for now, until I’m ordered to and you have to go through an interrogation, how about we watch something or play a game on the xbox?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

That was a lie; it didn’t sound good to Byleth. It sounded like a distraction and while she normally welcomed such a distraction, it made her sick to her stomach. Where they not supposed to talk about the fact that she had positive test results, which meant Dimitri was likely infected, and now they were both stuck? Her apartment was smothering her.

Byleth listened as Dimitri rattled on about nonsense as they moved back into the living room and got comfortable. She wanted to engage in conversation, talk about something other than what was plaguing her mind, but found it near impossible. She wrapped the blanket around her and nodded along to the questions Dimitri was asking which caused him to sigh as he sat down next to her.

“I kind of need your input o the game, By. Otherwise you’re going to watch me play Zelda and critique me for playing it wrong.”

Dimitri’s teasing tone snapped her out of her daze. She blinked a few times and sighed.

“Sorry. I guess the news hit me harder than I thought.”

Dimitri grabbed her hands and gave her a gentle smile. He ran circles with his thumb over her knuckles, trying to soothe her. Given the conversation they had yesterday, he didn’t want to push her into talking about something she didn’t. Yet at the same time, he knew that something was bothering her and had to ask.

“What’s on your mind?”

Byleth bit her lip. What was on her mind? A lot was on her mind. Where was she to begin? Byleth racked her brain, furrowing her brows as she tried to come up with an answer. Deep down, she knew that this wasn’t about the virus. Having a positive rest result didn’t scare her because it didn’t change anything. She wasn’t going to die and had been doing alright at home, even if she felt like death. It was a combination of the frustration of the isolation and the fear that Dimitri would leave her.

What if he didn’t want to get sick? He saw how violently she was reacting to her illness and she was young and healthy. He had assured her that he didn’t care, that he was going to be next to her side no matter what, but just twenty minutes ago, she had woken up and he wasn’t there. It was an irrational thought spurred by anxiety since she knew the reason why Dimitri hadn’t been in the bed when she woke up. It was still a thought that her anxiety had taken and run with.

“Are you sure you don’t want to leave? I’m a confirmed positive case and if you don’t have it it’s a damn miracle. You could isolate at home.”

That was not the response Dimitri had been expecting. He knew that she struggled with some of the stigma of being in quarantine. He knew that she really struggled with being away from her friends and forced to shelter in place. He did not expect that she would be questioning his desire to be by her side. Yes, they had head stories through the grapevine about those who got sick and their friends, lovers, whatever it be, leave them while they were sick but did she think that would be the case for Dimitri? Apparently so.

Dimitri unclasped their hands and cupped her face, bringing her close. The bags under her eyes were dark, her eyes were slightly glazed over, her hair was sticking to her face due to sweat and she smelled like a combination of sweat and vanilla. _Goddess, you’re beautiful,_ Dimitri thought.

“I told you that I’m not going anywhere, test results be dammed.”

_Kiss her! Kiss her you fool!_

Dimitri leaned in and captured her lips. Dimitri couldn’t help but notice how perfectly her lips fit against his and how she seemed to visibly relax at the kiss. After a few seconds, he pulled away. He didn’t want to but decided to keep the kiss chaste considering how she was having issues breathing. He stayed close, touching his forehead to hers.

“What else can I do to convince you that I’m going to stay?”

Byleth’s body was electric from the kiss. All of her doubt had gone out the window the moment his lips touched hers. It was better than she could have imagined. A blush crept up on her cheeks as she saw Dimitri smile (a true smile, one that reached his eyes and the one that she lived for). She took a few deep breaths as she looked at Dimitri.

“Kiss me again.”

His smile grew wider. “I will once you catch your breath. I can’t have you passing out on me because I kissed you.”

“Sylvain would _never_ let me live that down.” It was for the best; her breathing was becoming erratic and she would need her inhaler. It didn’t change the fact that her lips felt cold without Dimitri’s touch.

“Claude wouldn’t be any better.” Dimitri pulled back and kissed the crown of her head. “Does that help answer your question?” Dimitri wanted to tell her that he loved her but couldn’t find the right words to express it that would make her believe it. Byleth had always preferred actions over words.

Byleth didn’t say anything as she leaned in and kissed him, not caring about her need to breathe for a minute. It was worth the risk. Dimitri was always worth the risk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after byleth fell asleep, dimitri immediately texted dedue and told him what happened. dedue asked if he confessed his love. when dimitri said no, dedue screenshotted and texted the group bet chat. here's the following conversation of the group chat called [THEY GONNA FUCK] as claude lovingly calls it
> 
> dedue: [attached image]  
> sylvain: THEY GONNA FUCK  
> dedue: sylvain, please.  
> claude: ?????????? so who's won the bet????  
> felix: nobody you idiot  
> sylvain: :c y u gotta be so rude  
> ingrid: did byleth tell him she loved him?  
> mercedes: no we would have heard something  
> mercedes: in our girls group chat  
> sylvain: your WHAT now???????  
> felix: annette can't find her phone but would like to remind everyone that the bet revolves around them confessing their love to each other so this development is a promising sign but doesn't mean the bet is over  
> ashe: well i already lost, it's been four days. damn. are you sure they weren't together before this?  
> ingrid: no, we asked countless of times. they both assured us that they weren't and only got flustered when we brought it up.  
> hilda: claude!!! we still have a chance!!!  
> sylvain: ingrid. annette. mercedes. hilda. my lovely ladies. the lights of my live. my inspiration. the women i aspire to be in a next life. pls tell me more about this ~girls only~ group chat  
> felix: disgusting  
> felix: that was annette not me  
> sylvain: i am heartbroken at how rude you are
> 
> also the blood vessel in the eyes thing? true story to a coworker of mine.


	5. wednesday

Getting tested had been a miserable experience for Dimitri.

The nose swab had been stuck so far back in his nostril that it caused him to cough up, what he felt like was, a lung. It gave him a new understanding for what Byleth was going through when she had violent coughing fits. His eyes were watery and he constantly felt the urge to sneeze. The only saving grace had been that he had bribed the attending nurse to let Mercedes to be the one to do the swab.

Catching up with Mercedes had been nice. Outside of Byleth, this was the only physical social interaction he had with someone. Their conversation had been brief, mostly centered around how Byleth was doing, but it had been helpful. It made him realize how much he missed human interaction.

The thought made him feel guilty. Byleth was the one experiencing symptoms and would likely be in isolation longer than him. Who was he to feel guilty? Dimitri felt sick to his stomach as Lambert started scolding him. The only way he could push through it was the thought of returning home to Byleth.

Since he had kissed her yesterday, they had been sharing a _lot_ of kisses when she was awake. There had even been a few times in the night where she was half asleep, she had pulled him close and kissed him before rolling back over. The thought alone brought butterflies to Dimitri’s stomach. He didn’t realize it was possible to fall more madly in love with her.

It was only a matter of time before he confessed. It was boiling on the surface, ready to burst, but he wanted the right moment. After he had recounted the story to Dedue, they had talked more about Dimitri telling Byleth he loved her. Dedue was supportive, as he always was, and had assured him that it would go smoothly, and he was getting into his head. Despite Dedue’s kind words, it still left him anxious and twitchy.

Dimitri had a hard time accepting that someone loved him as much as he loved them. He had loved Marianne but had always been consumed with worry that she didn’t love him back, despite the reassurances that she did. They sought out validation in each other as they tried to handle their respective trauma. Near the end (a month after meeting Byleth but Dimitri adamantly denied she had anything to do with their breakup) they had become toxic. If he had fallen out of love with Marianne, who was to say that wouldn’t happen with Byleth?

_Bold of you to assume that she loves you back, you idiotic fool._

Dimitri groaned as he tried to recollect his thoughts. Now was not the time to let his anxiety and his father’s condescending tone run wild, not when Byleth needed him to be strong.

He opened the door and stepped into the apartment, taking off the face mask that was required for everyone to wear upon leaving the house. Byleth poked her head out from the kitchen, looking better than she had in days. When Dimitri had left, she had been asleep so he had texted her telling him where he would be since he knew she always checked her phone after waking up. The blonde hadn’t expected her to be awake but was glad he had texted her in the event she worried.

“How was the test?”

“It was fucking _awful,_ ” Dimitri replied as he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a kiss. “I can finish whatever you’re cooking if you’re tired.” Most tasks wore her out but she was adding minutes every day.

Byleth laughed, followed by a cough. “It must have been so bad for you to say fuck. I don’t near that often.” Dimitri swore but fuck wasn’t used as religiously as her (and the rest of their gang, for that matter). She untangled herself from his grasp and went back to the stove. “It’s just some ramen and grilled cheese. My stomach doesn’t feel all that great but I could practically hear you bullying me into eating after being up for a little bit.”

“I do not bully, I strong encourage.” Dimitri leaned up against the counter, staying close but giving her enough space that she could finish her meal. “I still feel like I have to sneeze and my eyes water up on occasion. I’ve never coughed that hard in my life. I have never felt more sympathetic to your coughing.”

“That’s exactly what my dad said. He also hoped you wouldn’t be a little bitch about it.” Byleth smirked. The reason Byleth had woken up was because her father had called her to complain about the test and cursed her (out of love, he had said) for exposing him. It had been a few days since she had talked with her father and it was refreshing.

Jeralt had asked her how she was doing and she had told him that it varied but she felt fine with Dimitri next to her, a fact he teased her relentlessly for. _When are you two gonna admit that you love each other?_ He had asked, which left Byleth fumbling and blushing. It had been a good thing they weren’t on facetime or he would have teased her more.

“Other than that, are you feeling okay?”

 _Sort of. Just my dead father and friend yelling at me and reminding me I’m worthless,_ Dimitri thought. He was fretting over confessing his love and never wanted to go back to his own apartment again but symptom wise, he was fine. Dimitri shrugged.

“Fine?”

 _Liar_.

“Symptom free. A little bit tired but that’s because the group chat would not _shut up_ last night. You were lucky to sleep through that.” Hilda had decided to make a drinking game and encouraged everyone to virtually join her. Claude, Sylvain, Ashe and Annette had immediately joined. Everyone else watched from afar. It had resulted in over fifty text messages and three phone calls from Claude.

“it’s for the best. I would have drank them under the table.”

Byleth finished making her food and made a move to go for the table before she started coughing, her whole body shaking.

“Go sit down when you can. I’ll bring this to you, okay?”

Byleth kept coughing, the wheezing becoming louder. She gripped Dimitri’s shirt for support and he grabbed her in an attempt to stabilize her. She wasn’t coughing as much as she had done in the first few days but when she did cough, it was violent. Byleth’s head was spinning and her vision as blurry. This was the worst coughing fit she had had by far.

Dimitri rubbed her back as she coughed and held onto him tightly. He could see how her body was shaking and she seemed to be weak on her feet. They had been close to her collapsing before but this one was different. Byleth’s knees were quivering as she continued to cough. It took seconds for her knees to give out and for her to collapse on the floor, Dimitri guiding her fall.

Dimitri was getting scared. Should he call someone? Did he need to call someone? She was still coughing but it was starting to sound better. Byleth was hunched over and she was trying her best to keep her airway open. The sweat was building up on her forehead and Dimitri’s brows furrowed with worry.

“I’m gonna call someone.”

The blonde made a movement to get up but Byleth clung onto him, refusing to let him go. Her vision as almost gone; she could barely see straight in front of her. If he left her side she wasn’t sure how much longer she would remain conscious. With Dimitri at her side she had a reason to keep fighting.

After a couple more minutes, the coughing started to subsite. Byeth took a few shaky deep breaths. Her chest was constricted but her vision was starting to come back and she felt like she could breathe again, even if it was strained.

Dimitri ran his hand through Byleth’s hair as she recomposed herself. She had been fine minutes ago, perhaps a bit tired, but now wanted nothing more than to sleep. That coughing fit had been the scariest one so far. Byleth would never speak her concerns out loud but she felt like she was going to die.

“Do you want me to call someone?” Dimitri asked. He was just as scared as Byleth.

“What good is that going to do?” She responded slowly, still wheezing. The headache was also starting to subside. After she ate, she was going right back to sleep (and the only reason she would eat is because she knew that Dimitri wouldn’t let her go back to bed without it). “They’ll say rest, use my inhaler and keep an eye out. If it gets bad enough that I’m turning blue then I need to go to the hospital.” Byleth had the doctors speech memorized.

“Well let’s get you resting in bed then, unless you want the couch?”

Byleth shook her head. Her bedroom was dark and she could curl under the blankets while being snuggled into Dimitri’s warm embrace. Her living room curtains didn’t work as well and let in too much light. Sleeping in a dark room sounded heavenly.

“Bed. The bed is nicer.” She had paid a pretty penny for it and it was one of the best purchases she had made for her new place. “You’re not going to force me to eat?”

“No,” Dimitri said with a chuckle. If he hadn’t witness her almost pass out and crumble to the floor, he would have. What mattered now was Byleth getting proper rest. “We can order something later if you’re feeling up to it. For now I want you to rest. You look exhausted.”

“Thanks for that, Captain Obvious.”

Gods, she was so cute when she pouted even though she was trying to be sarcastic. Dimitri’s smile widened as he kissed her gently, lingering long enough to want more but also short enough to make sure she wouldn’t be struggling to breathe. As he pulled away, he noticed the smile that mirrored his own and his heart skipped a beat.

“Carry me?”

“I wasn’t going to give you a choice.”

Byleth scooped Byleth up into his arms bridal style and stood up, not missing a beat. Byleth admired his strength. She was strong and could lift heavy weights with ease but he seemed to have no issues picking her up. The mint haired woman was comfortable enough that in the short time it took for them to move from the kitchen to the bed, she almost fell asleep.

AS soon as Dimitri put her down and her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light. The blonde laughed as he pulled the blanket over her, tucking her in, and kissed the top of her head.

“I love you, Byleth,” he whispered against her hair, listening to the sounds of her breathing. It had finally evened out with her sleep.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow was the day he would tell her he loved her. Dimitri knew he couldn’t wait any longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh, you want to see how that group chat went? no? too bad.
> 
> [hours after the group has started drinking, mercedes and dedue are at work and ingrid and dimitri are watching with immense amusement, felix is v annoyed but secretly drank with them, annette is passed out and it's amazing ashe is awake]  
> dimtri: claude, please stop calling. byleth is still asleep and i don't want to wake her up.  
> dimitri: /claude/  
> claude: i hv UESTIONs u must answer  
> dimitri: oh no.  
> claude: oh YES  
> sylvain: BYLETH WHEN U wAKE yup AND SEE THIS W ELUV U V MUCH  
> ashe: w mis u a lot  
> dimitri: claude, seriously, stop calling.  
> ingrid: SYLVAIN. STOP CALLING ME.  
> sylvain: :c  
> claude: by wud hav taken my cal  
> hilda: yA  
> dimitri: i don't know how she's slept through this.  
> ingrid: b/c she's a saint who puts up with all of us?  
> sylvain: a sexxxxxxxi saint  
> dimitri: /sylvain/  
> hilda: SYLVAIN M BOI U DAWG
> 
> dimitri turned off the chat after that. claude called once more. dimitri promptly ignored him. he and ingrid had a normal conversation outside of the group chat. ingrid assured him she had screenshotted /everything/ and was going to use it for blackmail. meanwhile, when byleth woke up, she was extremely disappointed she had missed it and didn't get to out drink everyone. she teased them all relentlessly when they complained about being hungover.


	6. thursday

It was hard not to be a nervous wreck.

After Byleth had fallen asleep last night, Dimitri had made a promise to himself that he would tell her the next day when she was awake for more than fifteen minutes. This was not how he had planned on telling her. Part of him wanted it to be romantic, at some fancy dinner, and the other part of him wanted it to be organic and over with.

He had to rip the band aid off. Being with Byleth in quarantine had forced him to realize how pathetically in love he was. He knew he was in love but didn’t realize how much of his life it consumed him. After her coughing fit, he knew he couldn’t wait any longer. It was now or never.

Still, Dimitri wanted it to happen organically since he couldn’t have the grand romantic gesture. Ingrid reminded him that that was an excuse because he was nervous. He hated that she was right.

“You’re really bad at this game.”

Byleth’s words broke him out of his thoughts. With a sigh, he held up the pro controller in defeat. She was teasing him but he was a lie; the open world aspect of the game was throwing him off.

“Wanna play instead? Especially since you’re talking so much shit.”

“No, it’s way more fun to give you shit and watch you flail around when the answer is right in front of you.”

Dimitri groaned as he turned back to the television, trying to focus on the task at hand. He wasn’t normally this bad at video games. They were a puzzle and he enjoyed combat fighting and being able to master the tools of the trade. It drove Felix insane when they played together online because nine times out of ten, he would beat him without Felix releasing what had happened. He knew that it was because Byleth was watching him that he was stumbling and he wanted to impress her.

 _Tell her and you can get your rejection over with. Coward_.

Another death. Dimitri threw his hands up in defeat, the pro controller falling to the ground.

Byleth was laughing. He missed the sound of her laugh. With her being so ill she was laughing less because it triggered a coughing attack. He would get killed and fumble in a game, repeatedly, if it meant that he got to hear Byleth’s laugh. It was angelic.

“Here, let me see it. I’ll show you how a pro does it.”

Dimitri picked up the controller off the ground and handed it to her, letting her take the reins. He leaned back in the couch, trying to get comfortable. Apparently he had strained his back in the awkward sitting position he had been in.

“You are _so_ lucky I love you,” Dimitri replied automatically, the blush creeping up on his face once he realized what he had said.

_Well, you did want it to happen organically._

Byleth’s hands froze around the controller. Had she heard him correctly? Was this a figment of her imagination and she was dreaming? Dimitri just told her he loved her. Byleth’s heart was pounding in her chest and for the first time since quarantine had begun, she knew it wasn’t due to her sickness.

She turned back to face him. Dimitri was avoiding her gaze and blushing. Yes, she had heard him correctly; the blush on his face confirmed that. The smile that had started to form on her lips after he spoke grew.

“You love me?”

Dimitri’s head snapped back up. Byleth’s blush was mirroring his own and she was _smiling_ , that had to be a good sign. He reached out and took one of her hands into his.

“So much. I love you so much, Byleth.”

The smile widened. Byleth moved on top of him, straddling him, and captured his lips against hers. Her heart was thundering in her chest and she was shaking with excitement. Dimitri wrapped his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss. It was different than their previous kisses; it was passionate, hungry and spoke more to her actions than words did. Byleth only pulled away when she felt like she could not longer breathe and pressed her forehead against his.

“I love you too.”

Those four words were music to Dimitri’s ears. He smiled and placed a quick peck on her lips before puling away. He wanted to keep kissing her but he knew from the way her chest was heaving she was having issues breathing.

They stayed in silence as Byleth curled into his chest, noticing how his heart was pounding as much as hers, if not louder. The butterflies in her stomach were coming back. Earlier it had been anxiety; she had noticed that something was consuming Dimitri’s thoughts. She figured it was a bad day for his mental health, which happened when his lack of sleep caught up to him. She hadn’t expected it to be _this_ , where he told her he loved her.

_He loves me._

“How long have you been keeping that secret?”

“Way too long. Sylvain and Claude confronted me on it a few months ago. The bastards got me drunk and I told them. It was the night you went out with Ferdinand. I was so grumpy, Claude’s words, not mine, and it went downhill from there.” The thought of Byleth’s date made his blood boil. Nothing had come of the date and it had been awkward at best according to Byleth. It was the first date he knew that she had taken since he had known her and Dimitri didn’t know what to do with his emotions.

Byleth stayed silent. She had only agreed to go out with Ferdinand to get him to shut up. The date had been miserable. Byleth knew it was because she spent her time wishing it was Dimitri (and Ferdinand was boring but that wasn’t the point). She said it was because there was no attraction there and they didn’t click romantically, which was the truth. Two days after her catastrophic date, she had gotten drunk at the behest of Hilda and Annette wanting a girls night and wound up confessing her truth.

“Jealous?” She teased, unable to help keep the conversation light. Byleth saw the brief flicker of darkness that passed through his eye when he mentioned her (albeit brief) dating life. “Hilda and Annette cornered me after that awful date. I’m going to safely assume Sylvain and Claude told everyone _immediately_ and it spiraled from there.” Hilda texted her about it once a week, twice if she wanted to be annoying.

“I haven’t heard the end of it since. I wanted to do some big romantic gesture but I always chickened out. I decided when we first met that no matter what, I wanted you in my life. If I had to love you from afar to keep you as my best friend, that was a sacrifice I was willing to make. I never grasped and accepted a world in which you could love me back and it wouldn’t damage our friendship.” Dimitri kissed her cheek. “I will admit that this is much better.”

The blush that had disappeared came back with a vengeance. She felt like she was a teenager again with her first crush. It didn’t matter what her friends had told her, with high confidence, that Dimitri loved her back. She didn’t believe them. Like Dimitri, she knew that it didn’t matter, she wouldn’t risk their friendship. Falling in love with your best friend risked that friendship. That didn’t stop her from falling in love with him about six months after they met.

“Two and a half years ago.”

Dimitri furrowed his brow in confusion. “What?”

“I fell in love with you two and a half years ago. I had an awful day on my FTO and was close to crying out of frustration. You showed up with a red bull and a hot dog from my favourite hot dog stand,” Byleth recounted the memory fondly. Once Dimitri had walked away from their lunch, she knew she was in trouble.

“Who would have pegged you for a romantic?”

“Shut up.”

Dimitri laughed as he cupped her chin. Her skin was so soft against his rough and calloused hands. Lambert and Glenn were suspiciously quiet but he welcomed it. In the past few days he had realized that Glenn and Lambert were much quiet when he was in close proximity to Byleth. The condition was that she had to be awake; when she was asleep, they were at their loudest.

“I can’t even tease you because that’s the same time for me, too. You told me about that day and I knew I never wanted to think about you crying. I didn’t even think twice about going into your precinct on my day off to bring you food to make you feel a little bit better. When I left I realized that it was a different than a love from a friendship.”

Dimitri had done a decent job at pushing his feelings of love to the side outside of the occasional bouts of jealously. His friends had pestered him in the beginning for a schoolboy crush but after meeting Byleth, they had come to understand why. It had only been when the jealously spilled into his personality that it was commented on. Dimitri suspected that Sylvain knew before then and was waiting for the right time. The redhead _always_ knew.

Byleth couldn’t stop smiling. Her cheeks were starting to hurt. She had imagined this scenario in her head a thousand times but the reality was better. She gave him a peck on the lips and nuzzled into the crook of his neck. Just as she got comfortable, the tickle of her throat that she had become accustom to reappeared and started coughing.

Although the coughing fit wasn’t as bad as it had been yesterday, it was enough to tire her out. Byleth was nervous about having a repeat of yesterday, which fueled her exhaustion. Thankfully none of her coughing fits since then had been that bad. She could longer than before but it wasn’t a throat and deep within her chest.

Dimitri placed the inhaler into her free hand. By this point she knew that she should keep her inhaler on her person but remained stubbornly opposed. Byleth took the medication and started to return to normal breathing. Her heart was still racing but she believed that to be linked to the adrenaline from their love confessions.

“I’m so tired of coughing and being sick. I can’t believe it’s only been five days of this hell. It feels like six years,” Byleth whined once she felt like she could speak.

“I understand. I know I would be just as annoyed. But despite your illness, this has been the best five days of my life. The only thing I would trade for this time is for you to be healthy.” Even if Byleth got sick again, Dimitri would do it all over. He slept better, ate more (even if the food was bland) and smiled more. Being with Byleth quelled his dark thoughts. “I’m really glad I’m here spending quarantine with you.”

Byleth felt the familiar wetness form in the corner of her eyes. This damn virus was making her more emotional than she had been in years. They were happy tears though. She resumed her position of her head nuzzled into the crook of Dimitri’s neck and he wrapped his arms around her.

“I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” Dimitri kissed the top of her head and smiled against her hair. “My beloved.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> good thing crests don't exist in this world bc dimitri would have broken so many pro controllers (he still got that stamina tho. whew boi byleth you are in for a night)
> 
> dedue won the bet. dedue knows his boy. 
> 
> one more chapter to round out the week! but because i am clingy and refuse to let things go, i have a few more chapters planned that are outside of the direct story line (i.e, smut which i haven't written that in ten years so that'll be an adventure, a chapter dedicated to the shenanigans of the group chat revolving around the bet, etc).


	7. friday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two changes!!
> 
> one) i'm still used to "mature" meaning sex because lmao ff.net but let's get that explicit rating ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). won't happen this chapter but i'm changing it before i forget. to quote rosa from brooklyn 99, "they just need to bone" (captain holt in the background screaming BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE? can be heard)  
> two) i changed how many chapters this has! it's likely to expand into the next week and cover the full quarantine. what's finishing a story? don't know her. didn't feel like the story was complete.

While Byleth’s coughing had subsided, it was replaced by a new symptom: night chills. She had been experiencing a milder version of it the whole time but it wasn’t until the coughing had started to lessen a few hours ago did she realize how bad it was.

She alternated between being swaddled up in five blankets to sitting in the tub when her body demanded it. During the day, she had a few bouts where she was shivering. It was manageable. _Silly me to think that I would have gotten over the coughing,_ she thought as she sunk deeper into the tub, submerging her body in the warmth.

“Dimitri?”

Byleth pushed the curtain back enough so that Dimitri could see her face when he came into the bathroom. He was blushing _hard._ As much as he enjoyed his flustering, she was too tired to relish in it. Besides, the first time he saw her naked she wanted it to be something special, not her desperately trying to appease the whims of the virus.

Dimitri was still blushing when he stepped into the bathroom, the warm tea in his hands. They had only been dealing with her night sweats for a few hours but they had developed a pattern. She would stay in the tub until her core temperature warmed up and then she would move to the bed, wrapped in blankets, only to repeat the process an hour or so later. They had discovered the last time she was in the tub that warm tea helped.

“Here you go,” he said as he handed her the mug and she took a sip, a sigh of relief escaping her lips. Dimitri shifted on his feet, uncomfortable being in the bathroom. It wasn’t that she was naked; that tidbit didn’t bother him it at all. It was the fact that it was _all_ he could think about.

Dimitri wondered if the rest of her body felt as soft as her hands did. He wanted to know every curve of her body intimately. He wanted to know what touches would make her squirm, how she would sound moaning and how she would direct him to touch her the way she liked it. That was his predicament.

Byleth mumbled a thanks as she readjusted herself so she could press her head down on the title and maintain eye contact without showing her breasts. She snickered at his blush and the fact that he seemed to be quite uncomfortable. It was endearing. Byleth set the cup down on the floor.

“You told me you loved me a few hours ago and you’re _still_ blushing over the fact that I’m naked?”

He turned redder and adverted her gaze as he sunk down to the floor and leaned his back up against the tub. “It’s not that. Well, okay, sort of. It’s just _all_ I can think about and that’s hardly appropriate when you’re sick.” He was sure that if they even attempted foreplay she would pass out. Dimitri had dealt with that only two days ago; he didn’t want to be the cause of it. “I want it to be something special the first time we make love and not marred by an illness.”

The snicker that was on her lips was replaced by a soft smile. It sounded cheesy, the term making love, She hadn’t believed it was possible until she met Dimitri. Sex was just sex, a physical need that her body wanted. There was hardly any intimacy in it with her. Then Dimitri came waltzing into her life and she realized how wrong she was.

“That’s really sweet.” Byleth took the mug off the floor and took a sip, glad to know that the hot liquid appeared to be working on her insides. “But as soon as I’m feeling better, I’m going to jump your bones and expect us to fuck senseless all night.”

The tips of his ears were turning red and Byleth smiled smugly. His reaction was almost better than the act of sex itself. Almost.

Dimitri cleared his throat and tried to regain his composure before he turned around to face her. She had done a good job at having the shower curtain cover her body and it didn’t allow his eye to shift downward. He felt like a teenager again, seeing a boob for the first time. It was ridiculous. He could hear Sylvain laughing at him.

“Thanks for the tea. It’s helping some,” Byleth said, changing the topic. “I’m warming up again but this is getting really annoying. I don’t recall it being this bad this week.”

“That’s because when you started shivering, I pulled you into my embrace. I emit a lot of body heat.” During his restless nights, he had watched her toss and turn and start to shiver. Byleth had been in a deep enough sleep that she didn’t wake up when she was cold. Dimitri had wrapped his arms around her and noticed that the shivering would stop within a few minutes of his touch.

Byleth learned forward and pressed a kiss on his collarbone. She wanted Dimitri to be sleeping but she was glad that he was next to her. She would have pulled a podcast and tried to lull himself into a sleep as she waited for the NyQuil to kick in. Byleth only took the medication out of desperation, not liking the lack of control it gave her. She had reached that point the second time she woke up.

“Go back to my bed, my love. I won’t be in here much long and I’m going to take medication to help me sleep.”

Dimitri’s shook his head in protest. He knew that any attempt to sleep would be futile. The insomnia that had already lingered would explode and he would toss and turn more so than normal without Byleth next to him. He could push past the exhaustion.

“If it were that simple I would,” He replied, his tone more bitter than he expected. Dimitri had even tried to take NyQuil to fall asleep but it didn’t work for him. When he had asked his doctor about it, it was something about how his metabolism processed it quickly. “I don’t sleep most nights to begin with. You being ill hasn’t helped that.”

Byleth frowned. She was aware of Dimitri’s insomnia, having discovered it shortly after they met when she decided to go for a walk at three in the morning after being unable to sleep and he texted her back and joined her without any questions. They had managed to maintain a decent conversation. The longer they had talked, the more Byleth realized that he just didn’t sleep and somehow managed to survive on three to four hours at the most. It worried her.

“You know that worries me,” she said gently, unsure of how to broach the topic. Byleth knew about Dimitri’s post-traumatic stress disorder. She knew that it resulted in extreme insomnia, irritation and bouts of psychosis and it left him emotionally drained when it took its toll. Those days happened less as the time went on but it was frequent enough. “If this isn’t helping you, you need to do what’s best for you. I won’t fault you for that.”

Dimitri broke his resolve and turned around to face Byleth. She was starting to regain the colour in her cheeks and looked better from being in the tub. She was doing an excellent job at keeping herself covered with the shower curtain, something Dimitri was extremely thankful for. He sighed as he ran his hand through his hair, thinking about her statement.

He wasn’t sleeping much but he slept better than he had in years with Byleth next to him. When she slept, and she slept soundly, Dimitri found himself dozing off. He was a light enough sleeper that after two days of staying with Byleth, he was comfortable. Lambert and Glenn were deafening but they hadn’t given him a headache, which happened once a week, twice if he was lucky. They were snide in their remarks but he was able to ignore them for the most part. The only thing that had been worse was his general sense of paranoia and the fear of the virus. That would have happened without Byleth. The more he read the news. The worse his paranoia got. Being stuck inside and having access to a news outlet didn’t do him any good.

Dimitri wouldn’t change it for the world. It made him realize that he could start to heal and have confidence himself even more with Byleth by his side. When he compared himself to his emotional state before he met Byleth and after Byleth, there was a huge improvement. Perhaps it was a bit unhealthy that it took another person for him to realize it and he could easily blur the lines of codependency ( _but still)._ And now that he had talked the biggest fear he had been facing? It was smooth sailing, minus the pandemic.

“Not a chance in hell, my beloved.” He took one of her hands and kissed her knuckles. “I already told you that I’m not going anywhere and I mean that. I think that me going home would make it worse, if I’m being honest. I would sit and fret and cave into the whims of the voices and it would be disastrous.”

He had learned that he couldn’t live alone after his parents and Glenn’s death; he always had to have a roommate. While Dimitri had his own space, there was something about the presence of another person that made life more bearable.

Byleth sunk lower into the water and titled her head to the side, the tips of her hair getting wet. Dimitri was right; him being alone would be worse. The more she thought about it, the more she came to the realization that he didn’t live alone and never had in the time they had known each other. When Dedue and Mercedes had gotten an apartment together, he had moved in with Claude.

“Live with me.”

“What?”

Byleth slid up in the tub and rolled over, pressing her breasts against the title. Dimitri did his best not to stare but found himself unable to tear his gaze away from her cleavage. It wasn’t any more revealing than the shirts she wore so why in Sothis name was his still blushing?

“I’m serious. When I’m feeling better, move in with me. You’ve wanted to break away from Claude for awhile now. I know we keep calling this an apartment but it’s a condo and I own it so that makes the most logistical sense instead of us getting a place together. We were together nine times out of ten before this. It’s half of the reason I made sure to get a second bedroom so you could always have a place to sleep.”

She cupped his chin and broke his gaze away from her cleave. If she wasn’t posing such a serious question, it would have made her laugh. His face was red and he was having trouble meeting her stare.

“We love each other. I know it’s still new, in terms of it being an official relationship, but I don’t think anything has changed.” Dimitri nodded along in agreement with her assessment. “The only thing is now I don’t worry about slipping up and telling you I love you out of the blue.” It had happened on more than one occasion. It was amazing that Byleth had gone so long without fumbling. “Don’t you want to move in with your girlfriend?”

_Girlfriend_.

The word brought a gigantic smile to Dimitri’s face. Byleth was his girlfriend. He was going to shout it from the rooftops. They hadn’t talked about their relationship status after confessing their love, which seemed careless in hindsight. It was an important conversation to have, especially given his fragile mental state. Dimitri abhorred the fact that he needed the reassurance.

“Dimitri?”

Byleth had been teasing him but now she was worried. He had gone silent and only wore a smile. It seemed genuine but she wanted to make sure. Had she spoken too soon? Did he want to make sure that they were good together before making a huge decision such as moving in together? She let go of his chin, sinking back into the tub and ready to give him space, when Dimitri grabbed her hand.

“Sorry, I just got really excited over you calling yourself my girlfriend.” _What are you, fifteen?_ The smile grew wider as he leaned into the tub and kissed Byleth, noticing the hints of jasmine and rose from her bubble bath lingering on her skin. “My girlfriend,” Dimitri whispered against her lips.

Byleth laughed, followed by a cough. Regrettably, she pulled away and coughed a few more times before resting her head against the edge of the tub, looking up at Dimitri. Her cheeks were going to hurt from how much she was smiling.

“What do you say, boyfriend? Move in with me when I’m feeling better, assuming you aren’t sick?”

“Absolutely.”

Every insecurity he felt was pushed to the side as he looked at Byleth, who was looking at him with so much love and admiration he wasn’t sure how to process it. She had been with him through everything, ranging from sleepless nights where the voices begged for his death, to the day he had gotten a medal for a heroic save. Dimitri had accepted that he was going to have a hard time leaving when Byleth wasn’t sick; now he didn’t have to.

“I love you.”

Byleth smiled. “I love you too but I’m kicking you out while I get out of this tub. What time is it?”

Dimitri pulled his phone out of his pocket and raised an eyebrow. “Five forty-three and you fell asleep around nine. Do you want to try and go back to sleep or not? I can make us breakfast.” Even with the rules of quarantine in effect (aka, time didn’t matter), they found themselves adhering to the schedule they were used to. His idea of making breakfast was toast and cereal but as long as Byleth was eating, it made him happy.

“Ugh,” Byleth groaned. “Is this a sign that I’m getting better with the fact that I actually want to get up and be productive? And by be productive, I mean sit on the couch, watch you play Zelda or really experience Animal Crossing for the first time and then fall asleep?”

“Animal Crossing?”

“Oh, now I have to show you. You’ll be obsessed. Now shoo, I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”

Dimitri shook his head, laughing as he stood up. Getting out of the bathroom was for the best. It would allow him to clear his heard and focus on something other than Byleth being naked. The smile grew as he moved out of the bathroom and shut the door behind him. This was everything he had dreamed of and more.

Within half an hour, Byleth was dressed, still looking worse for wear but better overall, and they were sitting on the couch. She had barely touched her food but given the night they had, Dimitri wasn’t going to push. She was in the middle of explaining Animal Crossing to him (a game that he wasn’t sure he fully understood but it brought joy to her face which was all he cared about) when he started coughing.

“Looks like we both get to be miserable together,” Byleth teased him as she rubbed his back, knowing exactly what he was going through. She had hoped he would have either mild symptoms or no symptoms, assuming he was positive. He still had a couple left for the return of his test results but given the sudden coughing, it confirmed what they already knew.

Dimitri continued coughing. It was like the experience he had while getting tested and it took him a couple of minutes to regain control of his breathing. Once he felt like he could speak without coughing up a lung, he shook his head and laughed. The laugh caused his throat to constrict but he suppressed the urge to cough again.

“I still wouldn’t change it for the world, beloved.”

Byleth smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm breaking up the written words of the next chapter and including the [THEY GONNA FUCK] group chat. it'll cover from the time the bet starts, to the quarantine, to after dimitri tells dedue and byleth tells the girls group chat and then the group chat coming together. aka i want an excuse to write a shitpost and it seems like a good way to do it


	8. a timeline of a bet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is pure fucking garbage that i wrote because it made me laugh. it also allowed me to get the other characters involved without actually writing them. remember when im stories were a big thing years ago??? man.... that was the LIFE.

**[group chat created]**

**[group chat renamed to THEY GONNA FUCK]**

**Sylvain:** ladies and gentlemen! i have EXCITING news!!!!

 **Claude:** you have an std???? shiittttt, it finally caught up with you.

 **Ingrid:** oh ouch

 **Sylvain:** that’s fucking rude but that is NOT it

 **Sylvain:** I had the PLEASURE of finding out some wonderful information from our favourite police officer

 **ashe:** given that Ingrid, dedue and i are in this chat, i’m assuming you mean dimitri or byleth?

 **Felix:** why am i here? i don’t care.

 **Sylvain:** oh but you will

 **Sylvain:** but first, let me begin with a little history

 **Sylvain:** last night byleth went out with Ferdinand.

 **Annette:** ya she said it was awful

 **Sylvain:** NOT MY POINT ANNETTE LET ME FINISH

 **Sylvain:** anyways dimitri was not having a good night so claude and i decided to bring him to a bar since claude was tired of his sad boi shit

 **Claude:** we got him fuckin TURNT

 **Mercedes:** oh dear, i hope his hangover isn’t too bad!

 **Sylvain:** merci, sweetie, he gonna be fine. anYWAYS claude and i kept asking why he was so down in the dumps and he told us

 **Sylvain:** drumroll please

 **Claude:** [audio of a drumroll]

 **Sylvain:** HE’S IN LOVE WITH BYLETH

 **Hilda:** this isn’t new information?

 **Annette:** we kind of already knew…

 **Ashe:** it’s really obvious. i mean they are dating

 **Sylvain:** oh my sweet summer child, no they are not.

 **Ashe:** what

 **Claude:** nah dude

 **Ingrid:** sorry ashe but it’s true they aren’t

 **Ashe:** what

 **Sylvain:** look fine, you all ruined it for me since apparently everyone already fucking knew?? Whatever

 **Felix:** even i knew. the boar can’t stop looking at her with puppy dog eyes

 **Sylvain:** ok but now I have conformation does that count for something

 **Dedue:** Dimitri confided this information to me awhile ago, so no, not really.

 **Sylvain:** you KNEW AND DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING

 **Dedue:** It was not my place.

 **Sylvain:** whatever you guys are fucking BUZZKILLS

 **Hilda:** hmmmm

**[group chat created]**

**[group chat named GIRLS NIGHT <3]**

**Hilda:** BYLETH

 **Hilda:** BYLETH

 **Byleth:** yes?

 **Hilda:** tomorrow. u me & annette. girls night. i know mercie and Ingrid are working so it’s just us

 **Byleth:** Should I be worried?

 **Annette:** no! we just miss you :c

 **Byleth:** You saw me a few days ago…

 **Annette:** i stand by what I said.

**[Three days later]**

**Annette:** BYLETH LOVES HIM BACK

 **Felix:** we already knew that

 **Hilda:** but we have CONFIRMATION

 **Ingrid:** i’m so bummed i wasn’t there!

 **Claude: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)** **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

 **Claude:** y’all know what this means???

 **Sylvain:** we’re gonna make a bet

 **Ashe:** what are we betting?

 **Sylvain:** how long it takes them to confess/how it’s gonna happen

 **Dedue:** Should we really be meddling in their personal affairs?

 **Mercedes:** it’s dimitri. he’s probably going to have some big romantic gesture.

 **Felix:** that’s fucking disgusting

 **Annette:** ohhhhh!!! merci i think you’re right!!! he’s such a romantic. remember how he used to bring marianne flowers all the time????

 **Mercedes:** i give him in two months!

 **Annette:** i agree with merci!

 **Claude:** ok but /what/ are we betting?

 **Ingrid:** buy the group dinner and drinks?

 **Felix:** can you not think about food for once in your life?

 **Ingrid:** fuck off felix

 **Sylvain:** idk it’s a solid idea. expect let’s make it that the losers have to contribute bc idk about you guys i am BROKE (but i wont lose mind u)

 **Dedue:** You guys have fun. I’m not going to participate.

 **Hilda:** :c you’re no fun!

 **Claude:** i bet they’re gonna be fuckin and right as by is about to cum she’s gonna blurt out i love you

 **Ingrid:** CLAUDE

 **Sylvain:** NO HE RIGHT THO EXPECT ITS GONNA BE DIMITRI WHO SAYS IT FIRST LMAOOOOOOOOO BET

 **Ingrid:** SYLVAIN

 **Hilda:** tbh i agree with claude

 **Ingrid:** HILDA

 **Ashe:** seriously??? you mean they seriously weren’t already dating?????????? i cannot believe

 **Annette:** yeah i know!!!

 **Ashe:** man idk it’s probably just gonna be a combination of what everyone else has said

 **Felix:** i don’t want to be involved

 **Annette:** yet you’re responding to the group chat babe

 **Felix:** i give dimitri two weeks

**[Two weeks later]**

**Felix:** fuck

**[Dimitri/Byleth]**

**Byleth:** You ever get the impression that our friends are plotting against us?

 **Dimitri:** Quite frequently. What happened now?

 **Byleth:** I don’t know. I can’t place my finger on it. Sylvain and Claude keep giving me these knowing looks and Hilda, Merci and Annette wanted me to wear makeup when we all went out last week…

 **Dimitri:** The same for me. Minus the make up part.

 **Byleth:** What are you talking about? You would look /great/ with eyeliner.

 **Dimitri:** Shush.

**Byleth: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

**Dimitri:** Sylvain and Dorothea keep using that on me. What does it mean?

 **Byleth:** Google it.

**[Approximately two months later]**

**Ashe:** i have a new proposition to the bet.

 **Hilda:** ashe you already lost

 **Claude:** no hilda let’s hear him out

 **Ashe:** well i just found out that byleth is in isolation because she’s a presumptive positive. not too sure what happened but i know she’s super sick. anyways, she’s in isolation. and we all know what that means

 **Annette:** oh

 **Annette:** OH

 **Sylvain:** she can’t fuck????

 **Ingrid:** no you idiot oh my god

 **Dedue:** Dimitri’s already on his way over to her place. It’s quite smart for the two of them to be together since he’s spent the past week helping her move. If she’s positive, then it’s likely he is, too.

 **Sylvain:** OH

 **Felix:** okay and????

 **Mercedes:** they’re gonna be in isolation. together. alone.

 **Hilda:** i still stand by what i said a few months ago

 **Claude:** i do too

 **Sylvain:** same

 **Ashe:** i give them two days.

 **Annette:** idk i think i’m gonna stick with my original idea

 **Mercedes:** same

 **Felix:** i give it a few days after they come out of isolation

 **Dedue:** I expect it to be sometime during the fourteen-day quarantine. However, I expect it to come after Byleth does something minuscule and Dimitri just confesses

 **Ingrid:** i agree with dedue to an extent but i think it’s gonna be byleth first

 **Sylvain:** fuckin bet

**[Four days into isolation]**

**Dedue:** [attached image]

 **Sylvain:** THEY GONNA FUCK

 **Dedue:** Sylvain, please.

 **Claude:**???????? so who’s won the bet?

 **Felix:** nobody you idiot

 **Sylvain:** :c y u gotta be so rude?

 **Ingrid:** did byeth tell him she loved him?

 **Mercedes:** no we would have heard something in our group chat

 **Sylvain:** your WHAT now??????????????

 **Felix:** annette can’t find her phone but would like to remind everyone that the bet revolves around them confessing their love to each other so this development is a promising sign but doesn’t mean the bet is over

 **Ashe:** well i already lost. It’s been four days. damn. are you SURE they weren’t together before this?

 **Ingrid:** no, we asked countless of times. they assured us that they weren’t and only got super flustered when we brought it up.

 **Hilda:** CLAUDE!!!! we still have a chance!!!!

 **Sylvain:** ingrid. annette. mercedes. hilda. my lovely ladies. the lights of my life. my inspirations. The women i aspire to be in in a next life. pls tell me more about this ~~~girls only~~~ group chat

 **Felix:** disgusting

 **Felix:** that was annette not me

**[GIRLS RULE <3 group chat]**

**Byleth:** So. Uh. Dimitri kissed me.

**Hilda: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

**Annette:** and???????????

 **Ingrid:** have you finally told him you love him?

 **Byleth:** Stop. No. Sothis, please stop bringing that up. I was drunk. You weren’t even there!

 **Hilda:** Drunk Byleth just speaks what sober byleth wants.

 **Mercedes:** it’s true! i wish you would say something, dear. you know he loves you back.

 **Byleth:** Stop that.

 **Hilda:** i cannot believe ur seriously questioning it

 **Annette:** if he brings you a really nice dinner and lights candles around the house just remember that he’s gonna tell you he loves you and you have to tell us asap

 **Byleth:** Oh my Gods. Why do I tell you guys anything?

**Ingrid: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

**Hilda: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

**Byleth:** Stop that.

**[Dimitri/Sylvain]**

**Sylvain:** YOU KISSED BYLETH

 **Sylvain:** AND YOU DIDN’T FUCKING TELL ME

 **Sylvain:** I HAD TO FIND OUT FROM FUCKING INGRID??????

 **Sylvain:** BRO

 **Sylvain:** YOU WILL ANSWER MY TEXTS AND CALLS WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT I KNOW YOU’RE NOT WORKING YOU FUCKING KISSED BYLETH???????

 **Sylvain:** KISSED BYLETH?????

 **Sylvain:** DIMITRI ALEXANDRE BLAIDDYD

 **Dimitri:** Calm down, Sylvain. My phone was charging. But yes, I did. How did Ingrid- no, nevermind. I don’t want to know. I’m not discussing anything with you.

 **Sylvain:** you have GOT to tell me what it’s likely having sex with her

 **Dimitri:** Sylvain!

 **Sylvain:** bro i am just saying

**[group chat created]**

**[group chat named STOP BETTING ON US]**

**Byleth:** I hope you all know that you aren’t slick.

 **Byleth:** It took me longer than I will admit to but I figured it out. So I have to ask. How long have you been betting on us?

 **Hilda:** i literally have no idea what you are talking about

 **Dimitri:** None at all? Strange.

 **Dimitri:** Dedue informed me of a huge gathering when the stay at home order lives in celebration of his accomplishment.

 **Annette:** dedue how could you

 **Dedue:** I did no such thing. I just thought it would be wise to have our two favourite people at my celebration.

 **Mercedes:** it’s gotten to his head

 **Sylvain:** god fucking dammit

 **Dimitri:** I cannot believe you all were betting on us.

 **Claude:** bro it was so obvious and it was so sad how could we not

 **Byleth:** How was it sad?

 **Ashe:** i have spent the entire time i have known you both convinced you two were dating. you have no idea how shocked i was to find out a few months ago you weren’t.

 **Dimitri:** It was not that obvious!

 **Hilda:** HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA ARE U FUCKIN JOKING DIMITRI IM CRYING OmfHGS KJLMAOOOOO

 **Hilda:** YALL READ THIS SHIT

 **Mercedes:** dimitri, sweetie……. it was so obvious.

 **Annette:** painfully obvious

 **Felix:** fucking repulsive with how obvious it was

 **Annette:** felix shut up you lost so hard

 **Claude:** i LIVE with him and i cannot believe i lost

 **Byleth:** To be fair, Claude, your bet might not have been too far off.

 **Dimitri:** Byleth!

 **Sylvain:** son of a bitch

 **Ingrid:** dimitri, i’m sorry, it was kind of obvious. we all knew.

 **Byleth:** He walked away from his phone. You might have broken him.

 **Claude:** nah byleth ur gonna be breakin him if u know what im saying **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

 **Byleth:** Please stop.

 **Sylvain:** THATS NOT WHAT UR GONNA BE SAYING LATER TONIGHT

 **Byleth:** Stop.

**[A few days later]**

**[Hilda/Byleth]**

**Byleth:** I can’t walk.

 **Hilda:** he got that big dick energy???

 **Byleth:** It’s not even energy. He just goes and goes and goes and oh my Gods, I am so sore.

 **Hilda:** i always knew dimitri had a big dick

 **Byleth:** I don’t think I can keep up with his stamina. He just now fell asleep.

 **Hilda:** when did yall start

 **Byleth:** Before ten? I don’t know. Wasn’t paying attention.

 **Hilda:** it is SEVEN IN THE GOD DAMN MORNING

 **Hilda:** Y’ALL WERE FUCKING FOR THAT LONG?

 **Hilda:** i’m going to bring you some muscle relaxing bath bombs.

 **Byleth:** You’re the best.

 **Byleth:** Don’t tell anyone.

 **Hilda:** i would NEVER

**[Hilda/Claude/Sylvain]**

**Hilda:** [image attached]

 **Claude:** i can confirm he got a big dick. saw it once on accident. i’m so proud of the both of them

 **Sylvain:** our children have grown up :’)


	9. saturday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm alive, i promise. i wrote about a page and then went through a breakup. i always thought it would be easier when you made the decision to end it. it's not. it sucks a lot. between that, coronavirus (alaska is like lol let's open up 100!!!! oh here's 50 cases in two days), my job and a lot of self reflection/struggling/my depression cropping back up, it's been really hard to write. i even paused my other story atm because of it. it's another reason why this chapter is shorter than i usually write (but i'm trying to remind myself that that is a-okay). 
> 
> on the positive side, the next chapter, they gonna FUCK. and i'll have one more chapter after that since i found a perfect ending. :)

Dimitri’s symptoms were mild. He was pushing it off as allergies, especially since he didn’t have a test result. It was that time of year, after all. That changed quickly after waking up to a phone call from his doctor informing him that yes, he was positive.

“Damn, I was hoping it would be negative.”

He was developing a headache and it wasn’t from his constant companions. Dimitri’s sinus were stuffy and thus, causing the headache. It almost made him sick to his stomach over the brief thought that he would rather have a headache from Glenn and Lambert than an illness. He had only confirmed sniffling, fighting a headache and a mild cough and that was the worst of his symptoms.

“Did you seriously think it would be?”

Byleth was feeling better than she had in days. The colour was back in her cheeks, the coughing was mild and her chest wasn’t pounding from her attempts to breathe. She was still worried, especially given that her nights were filled with horrible chills that she couldn’t shake. It had only been two days since they came with a full vengeance and Byleth was exhausted because of it.

“Not really,” Dimitri said with a shrug as he stirred the ramen on the stove. The one advantage he had was that he already didn’t have a sense of taste, so if he started losing his sense of smell (and he suspected he was), it wouldn’t matter to him. Byleth wasn’t repulsed by his food so it must have tasted good. “I think I just want to go back to work but now it’s fourteen days from my positive test assuming I’m feeling better.”

Byleth wrapped her arms around his stomach and planted a kiss on his back. Given his earlier comments, she knew that the loose of smell was likely one of his symptoms and she was worried about whatever he was cooking. She had tried to fight him for cooking rights but Dimitri insisted that he do it. At least it was ramen and it smelled good (then again, she knew people who could mess that up).

“I know but at least you’re with me?” She cleared her throat before coughing, turning her head away from her boyfriend.

“And I still wouldn’t have it any other way.” Dimitri turned his head so he could see her and give her a smile. “I miss work,” he added, turning off the stove and grabbing a bowl. He handed the bowl to Byleth and poured the ramen in. They were truly falling into a stable niche in their relationship.

“I do too but when I’m feeling up to it it means we can fuck like rabbits until we’re out of quarantine.”

A blush spread across Dimitri’s cheeks. The better Byleth felt, the more vocal she became about them having sex. Dimitri didn’t mind it but it made the waiting game unbearable. He reckoned t was part of the reason she kept bringing it up with such a straight face.

Dimitri tied to formulate a response but stammered instead. Byleth laughed as she turned on her feet and made her way back towards her nest on the living room couch. He grabbed his own lunch before joining her.

“You could give Claude and Sylvain a run for their money with your comments,” he finally spoke as he curled up next to her.

Byleth snorted and finished her bite of food. “It’s cute when you get flustered. Plus I want to win whatever bet they’re planning. They’re pretty bummed that Dedue won the last one.”

“Do you even know what bet they’re planning?”

She shook her head. Whatever bet was happening next was going to be an interesting one. She also knew, for a solid fact, that because it involved Claude and Sylvain, it would involve their sex life. The thought made her squirm. Wile she was excited to have sex with Dimitri (especially since she kept reminding him), it left her nervous.

Byleth wasn’t sure why she was nervous, considering how it was just sex. She also knew that it was more than that to her at this point. It was the first time she felt a genuine emotional connection to the person she wanted to see naked. It was overwhelming. If this was how she was feeling, she knew that Dimitri was feeling the same, if not more so than her.

“I think we should be alarmed,” Dimitri said after taking a bite of his food. It tasted like nothing. He had read that some people didn’t get their sense of taste and smell back for a few weeks after they felt better and were ruled virus free. It was a good excuse that he could hold onto for a while. “Mainly at ourselves for taking so long to figure it out.”

The idea of the bet didn’t bother her as much as it did Dimitri. She thought it was hilarious and it helped quell the fact that she spent so much time being anxious over how Dimitri felt about her. It seemed silly when she looked back on it. Byleth shrugged as she finished her food. Another sign of improvement was that she was starting to miss other foods; she could only have ramen and grilled cheese for so long.

“I know but it’s not like that was our sole focus. They can be sneaky wen they want to be.” Byleth yawned and sunk further back into the couch after putting her bowl on the coffee table. “They should have known that Dedue would win, though. That’s just idiotic that they didn’t think otherwise.”

Dimitri agreed but was having a hard time responding to their conversations. He was facing the same anxiety that Byleth was about their relationship but it was amplified by his positive test result. It was silly and Byleth was right, what was he supposed to expect? She was a known positive and they had been such close contact it would have been a miracle if he tested negative. It still left his skin crawling.

There was enough stigma attached with the virus that it fueled his paranoia. It caused him to stand out when he wanted to blend in. He was thankful that his symptoms were nothing compared to what Byleth had; his were nothing more than a mild inconvenience. Now he was struggling because it forced him to accept that this was the new normal. Up until now, it had felt like a lucid dream and it wasn’t real.

Just a few days ago, he had been comforting Byleth as she expressed her frustration over the forced isolation and the virus. He had told her that it would be okay, that they would be okay, and they would get through it. He said that accepting the change to their lives didn’t happen overnight, so why couldn’t Dimitri listen to his own advice?

He was lost in his thoughts and it was only when Byleth placed a hand on his thigh that he regained his attention. There was worry evident in her face. Dimitri knew she was looking for an explanation without having to ask the question “what’s wrong?” He laughed in his head about how the roles had reserved and Gods, he loved her.

“It’s okay to be frustrated,” Byleth said softly.

He knew that it was. It didn’t change the fact that Dimitri hated it. Dimitri was lucky that he didn’t get sick often, so naturally, he would get sick with an unknown illness that had grinded the world to a halt.

“I’m nowhere as sick as you though.”

“Doesn’t matter. You’re still sick. Yes, your symptoms are mild compared to mine but you’re still sick. That doesn’t change anything. This isn’t a contest, Dima.”

Byleth was trying to tease him. He opened his mouth to respond and stopped abruptly due to the coughing. His cough wasn’t getting worse, it was just a nuisance.

“You sound like our friends,” Dimitri responded after the coughing subsided and he cleared his throat.

Byleth snorted with laughter and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Well yeah, they are our friends and our personalities will start to blend together. Seriously though, it’s okay to let yourself not be okay. This is a scary time. I’ve already had my freak out and I know you bury yours. Don’t bury your thoughts for me, my love.

_They’ll only scare you away._

_Good, you don’t deserve her anyways._

Dimitri looked down at her hand that now encompassed his. They were much smaller and fit perfectly. He took a deep breath and did his best to ignore the demons that were screaming in his head.

“There’s a lot to unpack in those thoughts.” Glenn. Lambert. The nightmares that never seemed to stop. The memories that would be replaced with distorted images and people laughing at him. “But I’ll try, beloved.”

Byleth’s hand cupped his chin and she turned him to look at her. Byleth could see the exhaustion wearing on his eye and how the dark circle was getting more pronounced. She had noticed the shift since the doctors’ call. Byleth’s face was emotionless but she tried her best not to hide her feelings. Dimitri’s face was expressive and he did his best to bury them six feet underground. It would be work between the two of them. Perhaps that’s why they worked so well together.

She kissed him tenderly for a moment. It was enough to enforce her point. Between her actions and her words, she knew she would get Dimitri to be confident in his thought process. He already believed and trusted her but the ground was still shaky. Positive reinforcements would help with that.

“I know you will. And no matter what, I’ll be right here with you, coughing fit and all.”

Dimitri laughed and pressed a kiss on the crown of her head. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too. Now eat your food.”


	10. midnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> s e x

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOL do you know how long it took me to finish this? (pun intended)??
> 
> it's my first time writing, and posting, smut in like ten years. i've always written it because sex is natural and i think it's important for the characters to have that explored, but i wouldn't consider it necessary (shrug). i also use it to get out of my comfort zone because w h e w buddy this was a STRUGGLE. i consider byleth to be really sex positive and so fucking open that she's just unashamed of everything and poor little dimitri is like "t i d dy" and that's how you get him to swear a lot
> 
> if smut isn't your thing, just go to the next chapter. that's all this is and really adds nothing, minus the writing, for development of the story. you know they banged. now you just get it in writing. 
> 
> trigger warning for implications of self-harm.

Byleth’s bed had become Dimitri’s favourite place.

His symptoms didn’t progress much. He was a bit sniffly, fighting a headache and still couldn’t smell anything but that was it. Byleth’s symptoms were improving so much that it was almost like talking to a different person. She hadn’t needed her inhaler in two days. She was wicker to tire than she had been though, hence why they spent most of their time wrapped up in bed.

He ran his fingers lazily up and down her side and pressed a kiss to her forehead. She was trying to sleep but he knew she wasn’t succeeding. Despite her fatigue, Byleth could only sleep for so long before she was wide awake.

“If you get up I’ll order you food,” Dimitri said softly which a chuckle.

“How about I just have you instead?”

Dimitri blushed. He still wasn’t used to her straightforward sexual comments, even though it had been a few days. He wasn’t nervous about the act of sex itself; he was nervous about Byleth seeing every part of him. He would be exposed and it left Dimitri on edge. Plus there was the question of what if he wasn’t good enough? What if she wasn’t pleased? Those thoughts also ran through his head.

“Are you up for that?” He teased. Dimitri knew the answer; he could tell based off her position and the hunger in her eyes that yes, she was ready. She wouldn’t pass out and be struggling to breathe if they had sex. This was what she wanted and Sothis, it was what he wanted to.

Dimitri bit his lip and shifted uncomfortably in the bed. “Beloved,” he began but stopped.

“What’s wrong, my love?”

The lust in her eyes was replaced by concern. She gently ran a hand through his hair and kept close to him. Byleth could sense that he was nervous. It didn’t matter to Byleth if she wanted to have sex. If Dimtiri was uncomfortable and didn’t want to, she wouldn’t push it. It was that simple.

“It’s… complicated.” It wasn’t but he was making it a bigger deal than it needed to be. “I want too. I want to so freaking badly but I worry.”

“You won’t break me if that’s what you’re worried about. And I won’t pass out anymore.” Byleth was starting to feel like herself again. It had been almost two weeks since she felt normal and she was basking in it. Byleth twirled a strand of his hair around her finger and thought more about what he said.

The one time she had seen him shirtless in her apartment, he had apologized profusely and covered himself up. His body was littered with scars, something she knew he struggled with. Even in the heat, he preferred to have longer sleeves. It clicked in her mind and caused her to frown.

“You know I think you’re beautiful inside and out, right?”

Dimitri did know that. He never doubted that with Byleth. He doubted it within himself. It was a constant war in his mind. He had gotten himself so wrapped up in the possibility that once Byleth saw him in all his naked glory, she would run. Yet here she was, propped up against his chest, starting at him intently, making no effort to run.

If anything, Byleth always stayed. Her presence had always make him calmer, especially on the days when the voice were the loudest. The other night she had held him while he rocked back and forth on the bed with his head in his hands and did his best not to cry. They didn’t speak about it; they didn’t need to. When one of them was hurting, they always comforted each other. That had been the case before they started dating. It wouldn’t change overnight.

“I won’t push it if you don’t do want to do anything or if you’re uncomfortable.”

With a gentle smile, he pulled Byleth into a hug and kissed the crown of her head. He didn’t have to worry, even though Lambert was screaming at him to.

“I love you so much,” he muttered against her hair. “If I get uncomfortable, I’ll tell you. I promise.”

“I love you too.” Byleth paused and broke away from his grasp. She studied him for a moment, assessing his words. She knew him well enough to know that just because he said something didn’t mean his body language matched. His body language matched his words. A smirk appeared on her face as she tugged at the strap left strap of her tank top and pulled it down, revealing the top of her breast. “Now fuck me?”

“With pleasure,” Dimitri said as he closed the distance between them, his hands slipping under her tank top. He knew that her boobs were large but he hadn’t expected that he would struggle to have them fit in his hand. Gods, they were as soft as the rest of her skin.

He palmed at her breasts as he continued to kiss her furiously. There was a faint hum against his lips which only caused him to smile. It had been awhile since he had sex, probably well over a year, and was glad to know that even the smallest of his touches could earn a positive reaction from Byleth.

Byleth broke their kiss, pulled away, and raised her shirt over her head. Any sense of coherency Dimitri had was lost as he stared at her exposed chest. He loved every part of her equally but there was something about seeing her bare breasts for the first time that was mesmerizing. He kept his hands on her boobs, his fingers grazing her nipples, unable to find the words.

“You okay?” She asked, her tone teasing.

The first time having sex with someone was always awkward and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous about Dimitri seeing her naked. It still didn’t change the fact that she had a hard time taking sex seriously and felt that humour would help the mood.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.”

A blush spread across Byleth’s face. Instead of responding. She pulled Dimitri to her and kissed him. He wrapped a hand in her hair and tugged on it. Byleth whimpered from the touch and he smiled against her lips before breaking away. He started to kiss the corner of her mouth, her cheek, and slowly started leaving a trail of kisses down to her collarbone.

Dimitri nipped at her collarbone, earning a moan. There was no question about his arousal; he stood at full attention with the sound of Byleth’s pants and moan in his ear. Smiling against her skin, he bit down harder. It was going to leave a mark and he was glad. As he continued to suck, he felt her reaching into his waistband and slipped her hand into his pants.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Dimitri breathed, breaking his contact with her, as she wrapped her hands around his cock and began stroking him. If he wasn’t careful, it wouldn’t be too long before he came all over her. No, Dimitri wanted this moment to last.

He pulled away to look at Byleth as she continued pumping up and down. Her eyes were glassy, she was sweaty, her hair was tosseled and she looked so fucking beautiful that Dimitri was, once again, unsure of what to do. The blonde pulled her in for a quick kiss as he slid his hand down into her underwear,

“Ungh, Dimitri,” Byleth moaned as Dimitri’s finger started to circle her clit. If this was what he could do with his fingers, she couldn’t wait to see what his tongue would do. She was wet with anticipation and was almost embarrassed at how soaked her underwear was.

“You’re so fucking wet.”

Byleth tried to formulate a response but was too focused on the stimulation on her clit. His movements stopped and before she could complain, he slid a finger into her. It was a hesitant touch, one that she appreciated. She leaned her forehead against his chest and bit at his skin. He had already left her one hickey, she was going to give him more.

Dimitri found his rhythm with his finger, his thumb rubbing her clit. It was the _only_ time he found himself thankful for (what Felix called creepy) long fingers. With her body rocking against his finger, he slid another one in.

“ _Gods._ ”

She hadn’t stopped her hand job as he played with her but her movements were becoming sloppy. Byleth let go of her grasp around his cock and moaned. It was so easy to get lost in his touch. She could feel every part of her body tingling with excitement. Byleth had imagined the sex to be good but she hadn’t expected this.

They stayed in silence for a few moments with the occasional moan or muttering of each’s others nap escaping their lips. Byleth moved first as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of her. In a swift motion, she tugged the rest of his pants down, his erection springing free.

Byleth knew that he was big (grey sweatpants left very little to the imagination), but there was something about seeing his dick up close and personal that made her stomach do backflips. She pressed down lightly on his chest and guided him to lie down on the mattress. She kissed him, starting at his neck and went down to his V, where she stopped.

Dimitri stopped breathing when Byleth took him into her mouth.

Blowjobs were never something Byleth particularly enjoyed doing. It was mostly about the reaction of her partner that caused her excitement but there was something off about it she couldn’t quite place. It was different with Dimtiri. She was enjoying her herself and enjoyed having him in her mouth, taking her time as she bobbed up and down on his shaft. He was big enough that there was no possible way she could deep throat him without choking and gagging, but dammit, she was going to try. Having him hit the back of her throat felt wonderful.

She felt Dimitri push her hair out of her face as she continued her pace. More spit was coming out of her mouth and she was getting sloppier the more she gagged and choked but given the way Dimitri’s thighs were quivering and the oh fucks that were escaping his lips, she knew he wasn’t complaining.

“Stop. Please.” He sounded so weak. Byleth raised an eyebrow as she pulled away from his dick. “O’m close and I don’t want to cum yet.”

That made sense. It wouldn’t have mattered to her if he did considering how they had all the time in the world to explore each others bodies. It was still a nice thought knowing he didn’t want the moment to end. She re-positioned herself and sat up, ready to crawl onto his lap, when he grabbed her and pushed her down on against the bed with more force than intended, which only caused Byleth to giggle.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Dimitri whispered into her ear. He knew that he was strong and was just thankful that Byleth could hold her own. Did she want to be roughhoused? Realization dawned on him when he remembered that he didn’t know anything about what she liked in bed. Did she like it rough? Gentle? Did she want him to smack her ass so hard that she was red and probably have a bruise?

“I’ll let you know if you hurt me.” She kissed his cheek. “Besides, I don’t mind if you get rough. I’d prefer it that wa- _ah!”_

Dimitri had bitten down on her left breast and bit down _hard_. He chuckled at her comment and kissed the hickey that was starting to form. He continued his path down, kissing every inch he could and stopped at the top of the waistband to her underwear. He fiddled around with the band and Byleth arched her back so he could shimmy her underwear off. It was tossed to the side and Dimitri’s gaze turned back to Byleth.

Her legs were parted slightly, revealing her shaven skin and the fact that he could see just how wet she was. There was something appealing about her thighs, the more Dimitri looked at him. His hand gently traced circles along her thighs before he lowered his mouth to her entrance.

If she was wet against his fingers, it was nothing compared to how wet she was now. He had gotten a faint idea from the glistening in the light and how soaked her underwear had been. His tongue darted back and forth over her clit, earning an appreciative moan. Dimitri could die a happy man knowing what she sounded like when she moaned and Gods, it was caused by him.

Dimitri continued his pace before sliding two fingers in, knowing with how wet she was they would be welcomed with ease. Byleth grunted again and something inaudible left her lips. He was so lost in the moment, focused on moving his fingers in and out of her while he teased her kips that he didn’t know how she was pulling his hair and begging him to come up. She pulled on his hair harder and he reluctantly obliged.

“I want you inside of me.”

Dimitri grabbed her thighs (hard enough that he knew would leave an imprint) and shoved them apart. He wanted it just as bad but he also wanted the moment to keep going. The blonde knew that they had all the time in the world but it was still special to him. It was his first time making love to Byleth and it was a memory that would follow him forever. With a smirk, he kissed her inner thigh, teasing her, and made his way back up to her breasts where he bit down hard enough to taste copper.

The moan she emitted was enchanting.

“Tease.”

Dimitri laughed as he brought his hand up to her cheek and cupped it. He knew it was a thought that was constantly running through his brain but he couldn’t help it – she was beautiful. He loved everything about her and was content on staying in this position, the head of his cock rubbing her clit, while he stared into her eyes.

“I’m the tease? You’re the one that’s been walking around in my shirt with no underwear for two days.”

Byleth giggled. She had been wearing underwear under his shirt but it was cheekies and that was the purpose, to see if she could get a reaction out of him. He had done quite well at hiding it but it probably helped that his shirts were the size of a large dress on her.

“You noticed th- oh, Sothis, _yes._ ”

She hadn’t been expecting Dimitri to slide into her during the middle of her sentence. Byleth wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled his chest to hers, lost in how good he felt inside of her. He wasn’t moving and Byleth was content on staying motionless forever.

“Are you doing okay?”

“I feel fucking fantastic. You feel so fucking _good_.”

Dimitri started to thrust his lips, trying to find a pace that was pleasurable to the both of them. It didn’t take long before he developed a rhythm. The faster he went, the more Byleth seemed to squirm under his touch. He made a mental notice and continued, only the sound of occasional moans and skin slapping each other echoing through the room.

Byleth’s arms wrapped around his back and she raked her nails along it. He was going to have scratch marks tomorrow and the thought left her smug. They were in a place that he could cover up with clothes, he was fine. It also caused him to sputter out her name as he continued to fuck her, which was a win.

His pace began to slow. It hadn’t been that long, probably ten minutes, and he knew he was dangerously close to his orgasm. If he wasn’t so focused on Byleth, he would have laughed. He wanted nothing more to please her yet he was going to give into his desires first.

“You good?”

Byleth didn’t miss how his pace slowed. While she normally preferred sex so rough that her head was being bashed into a headboard, she didn’t mind the softness. It was fitting and allowed her to feel safe, something she had never felt before.

“I am embarrassing close and I don’t want to without getting you off.”

She smiled and dug her nails into his back. “I don’t want you to worry about getting me off. I take awhile anyways and I know it’s been awhile for the both of us.” She rolled her hips into his, keeping up the momentum. “I know you’ll take care of me.”

Dimitri grunted with her movement. Even with her permission, it left him uneasy. He didn’t have time to dwell in it and knew he couldn’t with the way Byleth was moving her body to meet his thrusts with passion.

“Cum for me.”

Her words did the trick. Dimitri pulled out as fast as he could, knowing he wasn’t ready for a child and they hadn’t used a condom, and came on her stomach. He could feel the euphoria leaving his body as he came down from the high of the orgasm. Breathing heavily, he rolled off her and off the bed.

Byleth’s legs were shaking and she felt sore. While she hadn’t passed out and the sex didn’t last long, it was still a strenuous activity she wasn’t prepared for. She took a couple of deep breaths to recollect her breathing. She would have gotten off the bed and hopped in the shower by this point to wash the semen off her stomach but was unable to move.

“I grabbed you a towel,” Dimitri said as he crawled back into the bed and handed it to her. He frowned as he assessed her, noticed how flushed her skin was and how she seemed to be struggling to breathe. “Beloved? Are you okay? Do you need me to get your inhaler?”

She shook her head and grabbed the towel, wiping herself off to the best of her ability. She tossed it into the corner of her room where the dirty laundry lived and smiled. Words were hard, mainly because she didn’t want to worry Dimitri by gasping for breath.

“That _might_ have been more activity than I was ready for I don’t regret it and no, I don’t need my inhaler.” She turned her attention to her nightstand, where she reached into her nightstand and pulled out a purple vibrator.

Dimitri was glad it was dark enough that she couldn’t see the blush as he stared at the vibrator, which only caused Byleth to laugh.

“It won’t bite, I promise.” She placed it on the top of the nightstand and turned back to Dimitri. She curled up into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. “When you’re ready, I think it would be fun, especially since you said you’d help get me off.”

“I cannot _wait_ to get you off,” he replied huskily. It still bothered him that he came before her but he knew he had to let it go. Byleth didn’t mind, why should he? He pushed his negativity to the side and squeezed her for a hug. “Just as long as you don’t pass out on me.”

“I said might! I never said it was. I expect us to have a _long_ night ahead of us.”

Dimitri grinned. “Just as long as you promise me you’ll tell me if it’s too much.”

“What, you want to test it?” She laughed. “Kidding. I will. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and then they fucked all night and in the morning after they woke up and byleth had texted hilda, they got a knock on their door. it was a cake that said "congrats on the sex," baked by mercedes and delivered by claude, hilda and sylvain.
> 
> also i tend to reply to comments right before i update so it's always years later it's just who i am as a person


	11. home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi my name is ash and i can finally FINISH A FUCKING STORY

Falling into a routine during isolation had been easy.

It was a matter of sleep, eat, have some type of distraction and repeat. There were only a handful of things they could do in order to pass the time and that was including the sex. Byleth had joked about it being one of the only things they could do but they knew it was because they were still exploring each other’s nuances. They were in isolation; it made sense to take advantage of it.

It was breaking the routine that was hard. Byleth had gotten the all clear from her doctor a little under a week ago. She was still dealing with lingering symptoms, mainly fatigue and a cough, but was cleared to return to work. Dimitri followed suit a few days later. He went right back to active duty and she was on light duty, per her request. As much as Byleth wanted to run after people and sit in her patrol car, she knew that her lungs were still healing from the damage of the virus.

That was evident by the exhaustion she faced after helping Dimitri pack up two boxes. He had sent her home to sleep and refused her help after that. Claude, Ingrid and Felix helped with the rest of the move. It wasn’t much and the hardest part was moving the bedroom furniture. The whole process, from packing and moving into Byleth’s condo, took about a day and a half.

Byleth had been insistent on helping him unpack and pouted when he shrugged her off. She didn’t listen and was working on reorganizing the kitchen to combine both of their items, much to Dimitri’s dismay. Moving the kitchen items was a light duty and she wasn’t concerned about how his clothes were rearranged so she left that task to him.

“Who would have thought you had so much kitchen shit? I don’t even own half of these spices!” Byleth called out as she grabbed the spice rack from the bottom of a box and started putting them away.

Dimitri shrugged in response as he came into the kitchen. “Dedue used my kitchen a lot so I just wound up buying things he needed so he didn’t have to constantly bring it over. Claude used them too, especially when he wanted Almyran cuisine, but he’ll never admit to cooking.”

“Yeah, Gods forbid that Claude actually cooked something good.” Byleth coughed and felt a stabbing pain in her chest. The doctor had said it would be a residual side effect while her lungs healed. The mint haired woman was trying to remain positive – at least she didn’t need her inhaler every few hours.

“You know you don’t have to help unpack, I can take over. We took care of the bed which was the hardest part.

Byleth made a face. The bed and furniture had made her frustrated simply because she had to listen to Sylvain, Felix and Claude try to come up with a clever way to move it all in one go. Ingrid had been the voice of reason (they needed two trips, not one). Byleth knew if she had taken control, it wouldn’t have been so freaking complicated. It was a stark reminder that the virus had taken a lot of control out of her life and it left her uncomfortable.

“Don’t remind me of the horror story of getting that stupid bed in here.” She was thankful she didn’t have to pay for a second bedroom set, though that was heavily implied. “Our friends are idiots.”

Dimitri chuckled as he reached into the box and pulled out another handful of spices. They were nearing the end of the box and that would be the last of the kitchen stuff. The more Dimitri thought about it, the more he realized that this box was the last box. It had taken him longer to pack up everything than to unpack, which was nice.

“I noticed you cleared out about half of your closet to make room. You didn’t have to do that.” His clothing revolved around three uniforms, dress blues, workout clothes, a handful of slacks, button up shirts and two pairs of nice (and expensive) jeans that Sylvain insisted he owned. Everything would have fit into her closet without a hitch. The thought still warmed his heart.

Byleth shrugged. She wanted to respond but there was a tickle in her chest and she didn’t want to cough. She took a deep breath to recollect herself as she grabbed the last spice from the box and put it away. Rearranging her closet didn’t bother her. She needed to get rid of clothes and she didn’t want Dimitri to feel like he was a burden in their apartment.

What she had noticed, and what he probably didn’t, was that there was a good chunk of his stuff already here that had moved with her. Dimitri had been slowly moving without realizing it. The thought made her smile.

“Need any help with anything else?” Byleth arched her back and yawned. The exhaustion was starting to wear her down. She had had tried to keep to her new schedule of staying awake for a couple of hours after work in an attempt to reset her internal clock. For the past three days, she had needed a nap after her shift. Today was the first day she was knocking on three hours of staying away after her ten hour shift.

Dimitri noticed the shift in her mood and pulled her into a hug. He could hear her heart thundering in the chest and the fact that she was wheezing (whether she noticed it or not, he didn’t know). The blonde kissed her forehead and kept her in the embrace.

“Nothing and I’m not saying that so you can lie down. Everything is unpacked. I think I had more stuff than I thought.”

“No, a good chunk of your stuff was already here. You’ve been slowly moving in since I got this place,” Byleth teased as she looked up at him, waiting for his reaction.

Dimitri’s brows furrowed as he thought about her statement. Over time, he was aware that he had left items at Byleth’s place. He was particularly aware that anytime he had a hoodie over, Byleth would “mysteriously” wind up with it. Other than that, it was something he hadn’t considered. A grin appeared once he realized that she was correct.

“Maybe I always knew I would wind up calling this place home.” He was half joking, half serious.

The thought of moving in with Byleth never crossed his mind until she mentioned it over a week ago. Then again, he had been convinced that he was going to love her from afar and bite his tongue when she started dating someone that wasn’t him. The grin continued to spread across his face, reaching his eyes, as one hand moved to cup her chin.

“Home.”

The word rolled off his tongue easily. Everything about the situation felt natural, with Byleth in his arms and knowing that the key he carried on his lanyard belonged to their place. _Their place_. Glenn and Lambert couldn’t drown out the glee and positive whirlwind of emotions that were running through his mind.

She reached up with a free hand and gently stoked his cheek, noticing how he wasn’t wearing his eye patch – a sign of trust and a sense of security. With her smile growing to match Dimitri’s, she stood up on her tip-toes and planted a kiss on his lips.

“Welcome home, Dima.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i thought about writing their reaction to the cake but i just wanted something short and sweet. given that they started so separated, minus the whole quarantine issue, i felt that them being home together was the way to end it.
> 
> for those of you who asked, byleth immediately took photos of dimitri holding the cake (blushing face at all) and sent it to the group chat. she loved it. dimitri hated it (he loved it). they both ate the cake in one sitting and byleth shared live updates about it over snapchat. 
> 
> thank you guys for reading!! i'll be back with another story because hi, i'm ash, and i am super addicted to dimileth. i have a problem.


End file.
